Ecopetrol SA, Colombia’s state-owned oil company, is advancing its green hydrogen ambitions with the development of a new production plant at its Refinería de Cartagena SAS (Reficar) facility. The plant will be located at the refinery in the Mamonal Industrial Zone, situated south of Cartagena, along Colombia’s northern coastline, reported Oil and Gas Journal.
With a planned investment of approximately $28.5 million, the facility is designed to produce 800 tonnes per year of low-carbon green hydrogen. The production will rely on proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer technology, according to an announcement from Ecopetrol, which was shared via a video on the company’s official social media channels.
Details on the project’s timeline and the specific licensor for the PEM electrolyzer technology were not disclosed.
This green hydrogen initiative comes shortly after Ecopetrol’s completion of pilot testing for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production at the Cartagena refinery. The company has also undertaken several other initiatives as part of its broader commitment to achieving carbon neutrality for its operations related to Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Among these initiatives is the construction of Latin America’s first solar farm within a refinery, which was completed in April. The solar farm, spanning nearly 20 hectares and featuring over 40,000 panels, has a capacity of 22.1 MW, generating up to 34.4 million kWh of electricity annually. Once fully operational, expected by the end of the year, it will reduce carbon dioxide emissions at the refinery by 21,000 tonnes per year.
Additional efforts to enhance the environmental performance of the Cartagena refinery include:
- 2023 pilot plants to explore carbon capture and utilization.
- A water neutrality project launched in 2023 aimed at reusing wastewater, utilizing seawater desalination, and improving cooling system technologies.
- A 2022 pilot project with a 50 kW PEM electrolyzer and 270 solar panels for green hydrogen production.
- Ongoing testing for renewable diesel production through co-processing in the refinery’s diesel hydrotreating unit.
- Planned industrial testing in 2024 to process post-consumer plastic in the refinery’s delayed coker.
- Approval in 2023 of a project to investigate the potential production of petrochemicals and aromatics from naphtha and hydrogen.
These actions align with Ecopetrol’s strategy to transition toward cleaner energy sources and reduce the environmental impact of its operations.
