Uruguay will mark a milestone in the energy transition during the first half of the year with the start of construction of the Kahirós project, the country's first green hydrogen plant, which will be located in Fray Bentos and will generate renewable energy for the production of H2V starting in 2026. "Construction of the project will begin between March and April, and by the end of this year we expect to have made significant progress.
"It's no longer just a PowerPoint project; it's now taking its first steps toward implementation," said Andrés Ferrer , project director at Kahirós, in an interview with Energía Estratégica . Construction will begin in two phases.
Preparatory work will be carried out during March, and construction of the infrastructure will formally begin in April, starting with the 4.8 MWp solar park, which will produce 7.2 GWh/year. One of the project's cornerstones is the incorporation of cutting-edge technology to guarantee efficiency and sustainability in green hydrogen production. The photovoltaic plant will feature 8,000 bifacial panels from Jinko Solar. Accelera by Cummins will supply a 2 MW HyLYZER® 400 electrolyzer, with a production capacity of 36 kg of H2 per hour and an output pressure of 30 bar. Air Liquide will provide the equipment for the hydrogen refueling station and integrate these systems. The station will take the hydrogen at 30 bar and compress it, allowing the H2 to be loaded into trucks at 700 bar. In addition, the hydrogen refueling station has the capacity to fill 68 kg of H2 in 45 minutes. "The schedule anticipates that by early 2026, the solar park will already be injecting the first kW into the grid, while commissioning tests will be carried out in the second half of that same year," Ferrer explained. The six fuel cell trucks that will use green hydrogen will be supplied by Fidocar , Hyundai 's representative in Uruguay, and will be among the first units of their kind to be tested worldwide. In fact, their investor is the Santander Group , and their client is Montes del Plata , a company that will use green hydrogen in its heavy-duty trucks.
The partners The initiative's partners are Fidocar (sustainable mobility), Fraylog (a major transporter for Montes del Plata and other companies), and Ventus (specializing in renewable energy), which structured the project and will even build the plant. In its first phase, Kahirós will produce 77 tons of H2V annually and consume 7.2 GW of energy per year, using 4,200 liters of water daily, which will be released back into the atmosphere as steam.
Project authorities compared this consumption to the equivalent of less than 10 households per day.
The projected annual CO2 emissions savings are 870 tons. Furthermore, the initiative is strategic, as it focuses on decarbonizing sectors where emissions reduction is particularly challenging, such as heavy transport.
Furthermore, it targets the local market in sectors as important as forestry and the pulp and paper industry. "We are working with cutting-edge technology, so it is very important to apply all of these technologies to Uruguay, starting with this first pilot project," emphasized the Kahirós project director. "The challenge also lies in combining the necessary elements to offer a demanding service, such as in timber logistics, which requires 24/7 operation, with the availability that must be maintained to provide that service and ensure that the trucks are running on green hydrogen fuel," he concluded.