In search of the energy of the future

In the background is the Recoleta Cemetery in the sunlight, a saxophone player plays a melody, and Hamburg's Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) says: "I'm also here to experience the atmosphere of South America, the joie de vivre that people say here." The center of Buenos Aires is relaxed this Sunday, a smooth start for the tour group from Hamburg after a twelve-hour flight from Madrid. Of course, this is not intended to be a field study in terms of joie de vivre. Tschentscher is here to forge new alliances – and ideally to bring home solid agreements on the energy of the future.

With a 20-person delegation, Hamburg's Mayor Peter Tschentscher will be traveling to Argentina, Uruguay and Chile in the coming days. There are representatives of large municipal companies such as Hochbahn, but also other big players such as Aurubis and the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) are in the entourage, as is the general manager of the Chamber of Commerce, Malte Heyne. The trip starts in Buenos Aires, from Tuesday the delegation will travel on to Montevideo and then on to Santiago de Chile. Classic "trade and port relations" are the focus, as the mayor calls it. But there are also many discussions on the development of metropolises on the agenda - such as the redesign of districts and forward-looking steps in terms of climate protection and digitization.

The focus, however, is on the future energy supply and the possible new alliances that need to be forged. "We can't just talk about diversification, we have to develop the new alternatives," says Tschentscher. The continent of South America is highly attractive and the Mercosur economic association, with which the EU has signed a free trade agreement, offers great opportunities. But the competition is fierce, superpowers like China have long since discovered the economic area for themselves – and occupied it.

South America is rich in natural resources, and there are pilot projects in the field of regenerative energies in many regions. In particular, the conditions for the manufacture and production of green hydrogen are excellent in these countries. The substance is considered the energy of the future, produced from the electrolysis of water, using electricity from renewable energy sources. A form of energy with which a Co2-neutral future should succeed. Tschentscher speaks of "concrete cooperation projects" that Hamburg's commercial companies are planning, and he also hopes for closer relationships in the port area.

A lot is also planned at the political level: Hamburg and Buenos Aires are planning closer cooperation and want to sign a so-called "Memorandum of Understanding" and cooperate more closely in various economic areas. As the last mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz visited the city in 2013 and established tender bonds, in 2018 the cities signed an initial agreement. It was agreed to intensify the exchange in matters of urban development, at university level and in the scientific field. Now the agreement is to be revived after two years of the pandemic, during which the relationship had cooled.

Tschentscher's counterpart is a highly interesting man with great political ambitions: Horacio Rodríguez Larreta has governed Buenos Aires since 2015, the economist is considered one of the most promising candidates of the conservative-liberal Propuesta Republicana (PRO) for the 2023 presidential election Cushioning the pandemic in people's everyday lives, Argentina is in a difficult economic situation.

The first day of the official program on Monday, August 22, then continues with a visit to "Barrio 31", a large informal settlement in Buenos Aires, which has been a focus of urban development there for several years. After a tour of the Max Planck Institute for Biomedicine, the day ends with a Hamburg reception at the residence of the German Ambassador. On Tuesday, the delegation will take the ship to Montevideo.