In Uruguay, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, announced its first-ever global investment in green hydrogen, partnering with Grupo Santander to develop Kahirós, Uruguay’s pioneering project of its kind.
The project includes a $20 million green loan from IFC and will integrate solar power, hydrogen production, and electric transport into a single system. Solar energy will be used to produce green hydrogen, which will power a fleet of six specially designed fuel-cell electric trucks transporting timber to Montes del Plata, one of Uruguay’s leading pulp producers, said IFC.
“Uruguay has made remarkable progress in expanding renewable energy sources, and this project represents a major step toward decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors such as transport,” said Alfonso García Mora, IFC’s Vice President for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. “The World Bank Group is committed to supporting pioneering and innovative projects that create high-quality jobs and serve as replicable models across Latin America and beyond.”
Kahirós -a consortium formed by the Uruguayan companies Ventus, Fidocar, and Fraylog, together with Grupo Santander and with financial support from the United Nations’ Renewable Energy Innovation Fund (REIF)- is expected to begin operations by the end of 2026.
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