Can Brazil Become a Green Hydrogen Powerhouse?

This paper assesses the feasibility of green hydrogen production in Brazil. By green hydrogen, it is meant the hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water by consuming electricity produced by renewable sources. The country has large areas with high solar irradiation and favorable wind velocities that help to make wind power and solar PV economical alternatives. Other factors include lower investments and lower grid integration cost with respect to global average, because of the large share of hydropower. As known, hydro plants respond well to the short-term variability of renewable production. Local regulations also incentivize renewable energy. For example, it is possible, according to market rules, for a hydrogen producer to sign a financial Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) contract with a producer or trader to secure a firm, renewable energy supply for the electrolysis process. This market-driven factor, and other key factors, such as low price of electricity, are considered in an economic feasibility model. Results from this model suggest that Brazil could become a green hydrogen powerhouse for the internal market and potential exports to Germany and other European countries.

Sustainable and Economic Alternative for the Electric Supply of Isolated Communities in the Brazilian Off-Grid Systems

Roughly 99% of the demand for electricity in Brazil is supplied by a national interconnected grid. The remaining 1% is spread in several “isolated systems” of the Amazon region—mini-grids that rely on expensive diesel gensets due to high commodity and transportation costs. The isolated systems also have remote communities disconnected altogether from the mini-grids with inadequate health, education and leisure services. These communities are precariously supplied by small inefficient diesel gensets that run for a few hours per day. In this article, we propose a sustainable and economic alternative for the electric supply of the remote communities of isolated systems through a combination of photovoltaic solar generation and storage. The objective is to improve access to electricity with savings for the communities. The present paper outlines a public policy to meet this objective.