Thanks to an invitation from CERE/UMAG in Punta Arenas, AEA-UNPA was able to participate in the “Power-to-X Summer School 2025”, an international event that brought together leading academics, researchers, and industry representatives from January 12-17 to explore the opportunities and challenges of green hydrogen (H2V) and its derivatives. As its name suggests, Power-to-X is an emerging industry that takes advantage of the carbon-neutrality of green hydrogen (produced by renewable energy) and the enormous energy content of this element to transform and decarbonize vast productive sectors that are difficult to electrify, including air and marine mobility, chemical production, and the steel industry. The focus of the meeting was the chain based on wind energy (abundant in Southern Patagonia) for water electrolysis and production of carriers such as green ammonia (NH3e) and various e-fuels of interest such as DME (Dimethyl Ether) and SAFs (Sustainable Aviation Fuels). The amount of desalinized sea water required for H2 production is surprisingly small. Under the name of Chilean-German Summer School on Power-to-X 2025 , the event was organized by the University of Magallanes (UMAG), the University of Chile, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology – Germany (KIT), the Solar Energy Research Center (SERC Chile) and the Institute of Complex Systems Engineering (ISCI), with the support of companies such as ABB and Gasco, and relevant entities such as the BMBF and GIZ of Germany and CORFO of Chile. There were exhibition tables by companies such as ENAP, Y-TEC from Argentina and Neuman & Esser (which is installing a 1 MW PEM electrolyser for ENAP in Cabo Negro, and showed a presentation on the subject). It was not possible for us to participate the entire week (only the first four days), but during the work tables there were brief presentations by PhD students (mostly from KIT and Chilean institutions) and researchers, among which Rafael Oliva from AEA presented “Synergy Opportunities for Power-to-X Projects in Santa Cruz (AR) and Magallanes (Chile)”, which reflects the recent cooperation between AEA-UNPA and CERE/UMAG on these topics.
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