By the end of last year, EDP Brazil produced this energy source’s first molecule, paving the way for this technology to be rolled out across the entire EDP Group.

In December, EDP Brazil produced the first molecule of green hydrogen at its new generation unit in São Gonçalo do Amarante, Ceará. The production of this molecule is the first strategic stage in the development at the Pecém Thermoelectric Complex of a pilot hydrogen project that was officially launched in January 2023. This green hydrogen unit, representing an investment of €7.5 million, is the first in the state of Ceará — and the first in EDP Group.

“We are confident that green hydrogen will play an important role in the energy transition and in promoting a low-carbon economy. ... There are already scenarios where green hydrogen may have applications in certain sectors of industry and mobility, such as aviation,” says João Marques da Cruz, CEO of EDP Brasil. As he sees it, “the Northeast Region of Brazil has tremendous potential to become a supply hub, given the abundance of wind and solar energy resources, as well as the region’s prime location and distribution structures like ports.”

This EDP green hydrogen plant is a research & development project of the Pecém TPP. It is expected to produce clean fuel with renewable energy guarantee of origin. It will also help develop a roadmap with scalability scenario analyses, spanning the various phases between 1 MW and 1 GW, and taking into account all the links in the hydrogen production chain (see graph). The project also includes a solar farm with 3 MW capacity and a state-of-the-art electrolyzer module with the capacity to produce 250 Nm3/h of gas — also with renewable energy guarantee of origin.

A pioneering project

With this project, EDP Brasil is pioneering the generation of knowledge in the area of renewable hydrogen, carving out a position at the center of a vast production and application chain for this fuel. Indeed, the project also aims to analyze the hydrogen gas production chain, business models, strategic partnerships with industries, and adaptations to the mobility sector.

As noted by the project manager, Cayo Cid Moraes, this is “an end-toend project that covers the entire upstream and downstream hydrogen production chain. All the electricity generated by the photovoltaic unit will be used in electrolysis. We are also developing a series of internal uses for the hydrogen, including co-firing with primary fuels and replacing the gray hydrogen used for alternator cooling at the Pecém power plant.” The Pecém Thermoelectric Complex has several other important projects under way related to sustainable thermoelectric generation. Among them are the application of coal ash in roads and in the production of cinder blocks for an administrative building, as well as Brazil’s first inter-municipal electric bus. 

And EDP is not the only one in this region to recognize the potential of hydrogen; there are several other companies with an eye on this new technology. “EDP is one step ahead of them precisely because of our pioneering spirit and technological integration, with the first molecule produced in Brazil — and the first in Latin America — on a 1 MW scale,” says Cayo Cid Moraes.

More knowledge and experience

The people behind the project are mindful not only of the more “technical” production chain, but of all the challenges that arise along the way and the framework conditions required to implement a project of this size. “There are issues that include the environmental licensing of the installation; the technical, regulatory, and financial sustainability criteria; the renewable energy guarantee of origin for the hydrogen; and the operation and maintenance of the asset. In other words, there are a lot of details surrounding this project that are of critical importance to EDP,” adds the project manager. “This is the first and most important step in EDP’s hydrogen strategy, because of what it will bring in terms of knowledge and experience.”

“Brazil is currently leading a working group of the International Council on Large Electric Systems, which has been tackling the certification of green hydrogen production. This committee is discussing the attributes that define hydrogen as renewable and the minimum criteria required for certification,” says João Marques da Cruz. “Participating in this discussion will certainly help establish the country as one of the leaders in this market. Armed with the experience and lessons learned from the Pecém unit, we at EDP will be able to contribute even more assertively to the expansion of green hydrogen production in the country.”