Brazil and Germany sign R$ 21 million agreement for green hydrogen projects

The National Service for Industrial Learning (SENAI) and the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AIF) signed a financing agreement worth BRL 21 million. The institutions will select up to ten projects involving small and medium-sized companies (PMEs), startups and research and technology organizations in both countries with the objective of promoting the development of technologies for the production of green hydrogen.

The agreement was signed on March 13, during the Brazil-Germany Economic Meeting (EEBA), in Belo Horizonte (MG). The Vice President of the Republic and Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, was present and reinforced the importance of the environmental agenda for the government.

“The Brazilian government is fully committed to sustainability, not allowing deforestation, not allowing land grabbing in the Amazon, illegal mining. So, it is President Lula’s and the government’s commitment to fight climate change, to strengthen the climate agenda”, guaranteed the vice-president.

The first phase of the bilateral call will be opened in April this year for Brazilian companies and the network of SENAI Innovation Institutes. “The basic question is how do we do research, but how can we get companies into this game. And that’s what the objective is, that’s why this call, that’s why within a call of an economic meeting”, revealed Jefferson Gomes, Director of Innovation and Technology at SENAI.

The selected projects will move on to the next phase, to start in July 2023, with a final deadline in September 2023. The chosen proposals will last from 12 to 36 months and should start in early 2024. The industrial mission will be coordinated by the SENAI Institute for Innovation in Information and Communication Technology (TICs), from SENAI in Pernambuco.

The mission will bring together research and innovation centers in both countries around the challenge of energy transition, based on projects that are more aligned with Brazilian characteristics and needs. The projects will be carried out in Brazil and Germany. Applications will focus on technological development centers in Brazil, such as the TECH HUB in Porto de Suape (Pernambuco), the SENAI CIMATEC Park (Bahia) and the Green Hydrogen Center in Balbina (Amazonas).

Green Hydrogen

Green hydrogen is produced through a chemical process (electrolysis) that allows water molecules to be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. The so-called green hydrogen is made without carbon emissions and basically uses renewable energies (hydro, wind, solar and biomass).

The regulation of the sector is already being negotiated and, for deputy Arnaldo Jardim (Cidadania-SP), president of the Parliamentary Front for Competitive Brazil, it was high time. “We have a series of investments that, occasionally, some companies are already developing in this sense, but there is a need for a regulatory framework to have legal certainty. Therefore, making a clear, precise regulation for the sector to take advantage of our potential and all its aspects is, really, very urgent”, commented the parliamentarian.

Fuel is essential for the decarbonization process in the industrial sector and for meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. Over the next few years, the goal is to replace hydrogen produced from fossil sources with green hydrogen, which does not emit carbon.

According to a study carried out by a German consultancy, Brazil could earn BRL 150 billion a year in the green hydrogen market (H2verde), and become the leader of a world market estimated at more than USD 1 trillion in direct sales of the molecule or derivatives.