Green H2 production planned for Rio

The memorandum of understanding could lead to the development of a pilot plant and open the door to studies on large-scale projects, the firms are widely reporting as saying.

Eletrobras is Latin America’s largest utility. The agreement will see the company supply hydroelectric power to companies looking to set up low-carbon hydrogen projects in the port, operated by Prumo.

Eletrobras and Prumo plan to start by evaluating the viability of a green hydrogen pilot plant, with up to 10 megawatts of capacity.

“Eletrobras is starting to play a strong role in the hydrogen economy,” said Italo Freitas, Eletrobras’ vice president of commercialisation.

“We want to develop demand, help customers make competitive hydrogen production viable.”

The new deal is in line with Prumo’s vision of Port of Acu as a hub for solutions in energy transition, said a spokesperson.

The strategy is to have at the port the production of renewables and the industries that use them, which would reduce transportation, storage and other costs, as well as cutting down on carbon emissions.

Among the companies looking to settle in Acu is mining giant Vale, which is studying the construction of an industrial complex to produce low-carbon iron ore products.