Yesterday, the National Energy Secretary launched the Green Hydrogen Roadmap with the aim of positioning the country as a global route by excellence for the region, in view of its commitment to decarbonisation and energy transition.

In this context, it was announced in the area of transport, after identifying strategic partners interested in creating public-private partnerships with international associations, the installation of a hydrogen plant and the arrival of a green hydrogen bus in the country will be managed.

This potential pilot project will be developed during the first term of next year and is intended for the City of Knowledge, the nation’s knowledge generation centre.

«We already have a fluid and permanent collaboration with the city team for certain initiatives of the energy transition agenda,» said the National Energy Secretary, Jorge Rivera Staff.

The mobility sector is one of many in the government’s plan with the goal of replacing existing public fleets of heavy equipment with fuel cell vehicles.

«Hydrogen is a commercial opportunity for the country and the region, in a market with expectations for the development of new technologies,» said Rivera Staff.

He added: «It will also allow the decarbonisation of other sectors of the economy, such as industry, agriculture, land and air transport, supporting the fulfilment of the Panamanian government’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

In this regard, the generation of synthetic fuels for ships crossing the Panama Canal is also planned. The idea is that ships can be fuelled there with E-fuels and green hydrogen in line with EU regulations for the decarbonisation of the maritime sector.

The same is also envisaged for aircraft.

In order to implement the Roadmap, the green hydrogen strategy will be published in the fourth quarter of 2022, and the safety regulations for its applicability and that of its derivatives will be updated.

In turn, the concept of green hydrogen will be included in the legislation as part of the activities subject to incentives to support the development of renewable energies.

In addition to this, among other measures, a proposal will be developed for incentives for port activities that use electric vehicles, implement renewable distributed generation, take energy efficiency measures and carry out heat generation processes using solar thermal energy.

At the local level, a committee will be formed by national authorities, non-governmental organisations and the business sector to work in alliance, «because this great project will generate quality green jobs».

The event was chaired by the Secretary of Energy and the Senior Energy Specialist for the Inter-American Development Bank, Arturo Alarcón, and was attended by 200 people, including Panamanian and regional market agents, as well as entrepreneurs from the energy sector, trade associations and academia.