On June 17, 2024, the Chilean Comptroller General of the Republic ("Comptroller") approved DS No. 13 of 2022, of the Ministry of Energy ("Decree"), which (i) amends the regulation of gas installers; and (ii) approves the Safety Regulation of Hydrogen Installations (the "Regulation").
Following the approval by the Comptroller, the decree will enter into force once it has been published in the Official Gazette, notwithstanding the transitory provisions regulated therein. It is estimated that the decree will be published next Monday, June 24.
It should be noted that the regulation is part of the milestones and steps of the National H2V Strategy, launched in 2020, as well as of the recent H2V Action Plan 2023-2030.
The regulation herein sets the minimum safety requirements to be met by hydrogen facilities in a state of being used as an energy resource, in the stages of design, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, modifications, inspection and final termination of operations, which must be recorded in a register kept by the respective operator, and in which the activities of production, conditioning, storage, transfer and consumption of hydrogen will be carried out.
Likewise, among its most important regulations, the following are to be found:
- The establishment of a liability regime for the natural and legal persons developing the aforementioned activities.
- The delimitation of the scope of application for certain facilities, excluding, among others, hydrogen supply facilities for land, rail, air or sea vehicles, and hydrogen transport and distribution grids used to transfer hydrogen out of its facility.
- The creation of a new type of gas facility where activities related to both fuels can be developed indistinctly.
The compliance of the regulation will be under the supervision of the Superintendence of Electricity and Fuels.
The decree is available at the following link.
