The European Union plans large investments for the production of this renewable energy source. Some keys.
In the energy transition towards renewable sources, Europe began a race for the “green gold” of Brazil.
The assignment of two billion euros by the European Union’s Global Gateway investment program, announced this week by the president of the bloc’s Executive Branch, Ursula von der Leyen, to develop the production of green hydrogen in the South American country it is just a proof of the interest of the 27 for new alliances in the area of clean energy with Brasilia.
And there are those who are already moving, such as the Netherlands, which recently proved a bill to allocate 300 million euros until 2030 to import this specific type of hydrogen produced by sustainable sources, such as solar, wind or biomass. .
According to Hugo Figueiredo, president of the Pecem Industrial and Port Complex (CIPP), in Ceara, Dutch investment can encourage large investments on site, where the Port of Rotterdam already owns a 30% stake.
The Rotterdam Port Authority itself announced that, in the future, 25% of Dutch green hydrogen imports will have to leave the port of Pecem, which would consolidate its role as the main center of Brazilian exports to Europe.
But the Netherlands, whose Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in early May, is not the only European nation in the top position.
The German company GIZ had already announced an investment of 34 million euros in Brazilian “green gold” in October 2021 and, last year, added around 2.5 million euros to equip training centers for the production of green hydrogen in various states of the South American country, such as Bahia, São Paulo, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Norte.
Chance
The issue was taken up again during Lula’s meeting with Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz, the first prime minister to visit the president, shortly after his inauguration in January.
Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell is also working to seize the opportunity. It is no coincidence that, last year, the multinational announced the disbursement of more than 10 million euros to hire 400 researchers in the area of clean hydrogen.
And Danish wind power giant Vestas signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2022 with Rio Grande do Norte to study the construction of an industrial port for the production of green hydrogen from wind power.
But Von der Leyen’s announcement last Monday, during his visit to Brasilia, further broadens the scenario, with new possibilities also for Italian companies, with the aim of differentiating the energy supply.
The president of Eurocamaras in Brazil, Graziano Messana, explained that “the Global Gateway is a European program that is perhs less well-known than the Chinese Silk Road, but it is a project that has a budget of 300 billion euros and whose resources are allocated investments in sectors linked to renewable energy and decarbonisation outside the EU”.
And he added: “Brazil is an objective country and already has an energy matrix made up of 84% renewables.”
Source: ANSA
BC
Source: Clarin
