The State of Ceará will implement the first green hydrogen (H2V) HUB in Brazil, aiming to be a global player in the production, storage, distribution and export of green hydrogen, which is considered a key element for the decarbonization of the global energy system . Information about this project was presented during the BW Talks Green Hydrogen HUB – Ceará, promoted by the BW Movement, an initiative of the Brazilian Association of Technology for Construction and Mining (Sobratema), on June 2nd.

For this initiative, a multidisciplinary Steering Committee was created, formed by representatives of the Government of the State of Ceará; Federation of Industries of the State of Ceará – FIEC; Federal University of Ceará – UFC and Pecém Industrial and Port Complex – CIPP.

According to Roseane Oliveira de Medeiros, Executive Secretary of Industry at the Secretariat of Economic Development and Labor of the State of Ceará (SEDET), the state is seeking to create public policies so that entrepreneurs see Ceará as the ideal place for investments in this area , ensuring legal certainty. Thus, the HUB will contribute to the social, economic, technological and environmental development of the state.

One of the Green Hydrogen HUB projects has the ambitious goal of producing 900,000 tons of H2V per year, in an area of 200 ha and with an electrolysis capacity of 5GW, but there is room for several other projects and for the installation of power plants. the entire green hydrogen value chain. Meetings with global and local companies have already started. The Pecém Complex is a strategic point not only for exporting H2V, but also for production, storage and distribution, since there are already a large number of industries that can consume green hydrogen at the site.

Duna Gondim Uribe, Executive Commercial Director at CIPP, explained that the port has as competitive advantages its infrastructure and tax benefits (on account of the Export Processing Zone) and will act as a mobilizer of the entire value chain, receiving, for example , components for offshore wind power plants, in addition to providing the installation of solar panels, electrolysis plants, H2 storage, desalination plant and power transmission lines, so that H2V can be consumed not only by industries, but also used in various logistic services and urban mobility.

In the case of exports, the Port of Rotterdam has a stake in the capital of Pecém, in addition to being a partner in this project. Duna stated that the idea is for the Port of Pecém to become the gateway to H2V produced in Brazil and the Port of Rotterdam to be the gateway to Europe. “We will have a logistical corridor, connecting the two ports, and the arrival of Brazilian H2V to European countries”.

In the assessment of Jurandir Picanço, FIEC consultant and president of the Sector Chamber of Renewable Energies of Ceará – CSRenováveis/CE, another key point for the success of green hydrogen in Ceará is its potential in the area of renewable energies. He recalled that Ceará was the first to implement wind and solar plants in the country, in addition to having better averages in relation to other countries both in terms of wind capacity and solar radiation.

In order to contribute to the implementation of the HUB, technological research will be essential, therefore, the involvement of the UFC. Fernando Ribeiro de Melo Nunes, CEO of the UFC Technological Park, commented on the launch of a notice for the coming of visiting professors, who will support the setting up of a technological center for research in green hydrogen.

Monica Saraiva Panik, curator of the thematic nucleus “Energy Transformation – Hydrogen” at BW Expo Summit Digital and institutional relations director of the Brazilian Hydrogen Association, stated that the HUB in Ceará has the potential to be one of the largest green hydrogen players in the world, competing with other countries, which have also started to implement their HUBs, such as Japan, the United States, Portugal and the Netherlands.