B&E and Oppenhoff assist AE in HNH Project in Chile

Barros & Errázuriz and Oppenhoff have advised AustriaEnergy on the green hydrogen and ammonia project in Chile together with Ökowind and CIP

 Barros & Errázuriz, together with German law firm Oppenhoff, has advised AustriaEnergy Group on the negotiation and structuring of a joint venture with Ökowind and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) for the co-development and co-ownership of the Proyecto HNH, an unprecedented scale project for the production of 100% renewable green hydrogen and green ammonia in the Magallanes Region (Chile) that is expected to be operational in 2025 and will avoid 2.3 million CO2.

The Proyecto HNH is an advanced Power-to-X technology project for the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia, with an expected investment of more than $3 billion US dollars. The project comprises the construction of a 1.7 GW wind power plant, a water electrolysis desalination plant (150,000 mt H2/year and a capacity of 1.32GW), an ammonia plant (850,000 mt NH33/year) and the installation of a liquid hydrogen or liquid ammonia shipping port.

This operation represents an important step in Chile’s green hydrogen strategy, which could position the country as a world leader in green hydrogen/ammonia production.

The transaction was closed on 16 December 2021, with Bech Brunn acting as international advisor to CIP, Mena y Guijón as local advisor to AE on day-to-day matters and Guerrero as local advisor to CIP.

The AustriaEnergy Group, founded in 2006, is a company dedicated to the development of photovoltaic and wind energy projects in Chile, among other countries.

Oppenhoff’s team consisted of Edder Cifuentes, Alf Baars, Simon Sawert and Wolfgang Kotzur.

B&E’s team was led by partner Javier Díaz (pictured top left), together with partner Francisco De La Barra (pictured top right), senior associate Fernando Campino (pictured bottom left) and associate Felipe Ríos (pictured bottom right).