The Government will send to Congress the draft of the Hydrogen Law to boost investment in the sector

The Secretary of Energy of the Nation, Flavia Royon, spoke at the Global Forum on Green Hydrogen 2023 held in Bariloche. At the event, she confirmed that a project that proposes a regulatory framework for the sector will be sent to Congress. The initiative proposes to grant fiscal stability for 30 years and measures to integrate local value chains.

"As part of a structural look at the energy matrix of our country, we are committed to promoting the development of hydrogen. We have prepared a bill that contemplates green, pink and blue hydrogen. We have already completed the administrative circuit and we will send it to the Presidency", assured the Energy Secretary.

This is an announcement awaited by all the political and business sectors that gathered to participate in the Green Hydrogen 2023 Global Forum at the Llao Llao Hotel in Bariloche, in the province of Rio Negro. If the initiative moves forward, it will benefit companies such as the Australian company Fortescue, which is preparing an investment of more than USD 7 billion in a green hydrogen project in the country.

What the project says

Royon added the hydrogen issue to the national energy matrix as a whole, and explained: "We discussed the project in Labor, with the Secretariats of Climate Change and Strategic Affairs, with Industry and Tax Policy. We are going to provide a framework so that the sector can develop as part of a country and a transversal economy, where hydrogen is complemented with the gas plan, with the development of LNG and the mining sector".

Then, he detailed the most relevant aspects of the Hydrogen Law project, among which he pointed out: "We contemplate blue hydrogen, from gas with carbon capture, green hydrogen with renewable sources and pink hydrogen from the know-how already acquired by Argentina in nuclear matters" (gray hydrogen was not included).

Among the axes of the project, he pointed out that it is aimed at certification at origin, with the creation of institutions to verify the origin of production, to develop local value chains. "In addition, emissions standards will be monitored, with tax benefits and a differential regime that rewards green hydrogen over blue hydrogen," he said.

"Among the various fiscal benefits contemplated in the project are: fiscal stability for 30 years, access to the free exchange market, accelerated amortization of income tax, financial benefits, incremental and differentiated export duties according to each type of project," said the energy authority.

Finally, Royon ratified that the initiative, which will be signed by the President, "guarantees access to the free exchange market from a point of view where the dollars generated by these exports must be used to promote the development of other sectors of the Argentine macroeconomy".

To close her presentation, the secretary stressed that public policies that last in time are built with the path that was taken to address the issue of hydrogen, with dialogue between the public and private sectors, academics and unions.

"What is embodied in the law is what development model we want for our country, and the hydrogen law reflects that: we want to receive investments and we want them to be investments that are integrated into our energy matrix model and place our country as a secure energy supplier for the world," he concluded.

In turn, the governor of Río Negro, Arabela Carreras, valued the characteristics of the bill and assured that it is a long-awaited consolidated text.

Long-term plan

At the event, Royon made a brief review of the objectives of his administration within the general guidelines proposed by Minister Massa from the Ministry of Economy, and placed the initiative on hydrogen as an integral part of a long-term development strategy for Argentina.

"Hydrogen acquired a place in the energy agenda since Minister Massa took office, because we see it as an opportunity for investment and growth, so we assume hydrogen as a structural aspect of the change in Argentina's energy matrix," said Royón.

In the line of working with a structural look, Royon highlighted: "We seek to carry out a work such as the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline with the effort of the State. We are also developing a master plan for electric power transmission works to incorporate more renewable energies to the system, and we are seeking to reduce the presence of liquid fuels in thermal generation".

In particular, regarding this sector, he added: "We have obtained financing and restarted works that had been stopped for years. Between the tendered and financed works, we are going to add almost 5,000 kilometers of high voltage lines to the Argentine electric system".

Biofuels: they seek to promote production in the province of Buenos Aires.

GDP per capita in the region doubled in the last 50 years while in Argentina it grew only 15%.

Although it was able to buy dollars, the BCRA continues to lose reserves to control exchange rates.