Argentine court orders environmental studies over HIF plant in Uruguay
HIF Global’s project envisions the production of approximately 880,000 metric tons per year of synthetic fuels from green hydrogen about three kilometers from the Argentine shore at Colón
A federal court in the Argentine city of Concepción del Uruguay on Friday ordered a series of environmental studies and requested information from Uruguayan agencies after accepting a lawsuit against the Uruguayan state and multinational HIF Global over a green hydrogen plant project in Paysandú, in a new source of bilateral tension that echoes the Botnia pulp mill conflict of the early 2000s.
Judge Hernán Viri partially granted a request for anticipatory evidence filed in March by Peronist lawmakers Guillermo Michel and Marianela Marclay, both members of the lower house, and Senator Adán Bahl, all from the province of Entre Ríos. The lawsuit, filed under case number 3276/2026, seeks to assess the environmental impact the plant could have on the Uruguay River, a shared resource between the two countries.
Among the measures ordered, the judge requested that Uruguay’s National Directorate of Environmental Quality and Assessment (Dinacea), under the Ministry of Environment, submit copies of the prior environmental authorization request and the environmental impact study that HIF Global should have filed. He also asked Uruguay’s National Commerce Registry for information on the company’s corporate structure and subsidiaries, and the Uruguayan Central Bank for data on the ultimate beneficial owners of the firms involved.
The judge additionally sent inquiries to the Administrative Commission of the Uruguay River (CARU), the binational body responsible for overseeing compliance with the Uruguay River Statute, to determine whether the project was formally reported and whether the company submitted the required transboundary environmental impact study. Viri also ordered the appointment of an expert biologist to evaluate the points raised by the plaintiffs.
The ruling was issued the same day that Paysandú Mayor Nicolás Olivera proposed to President Yamandú Orsi the possibility of relocating the plant within the department to a site that would ease tensions with Argentina. Entre Ríos Governor Rogelio Frigerio, who in March had threatened to take the case to The Hague, expressed support for that alternative.
HIF Global’s project envisions the production of approximately 880,000 metric tons per year of synthetic fuels from green hydrogen in the town of Constancia, about three kilometers from the Argentine shore at Colón. The investment, estimated at $5.385 billion in its final phase, would be the largest in Uruguay’s history. The plant would be located some 500 meters from the Uruguay River bank, near the Islas del Queguay Protected Area.
The plaintiffs argue that Uruguay proceeded with authorizations without activating the prior consultation mechanisms established in the Uruguay River Statute — the same instrument that the International Court of Justice determined Uruguay violated in the Botnia case in 2010. Lawmaker Michel stated that the court’s resolution is fundamental for the defense of Entre Ríos’ shores along the Uruguay River.
