EDP produce its first green H2 molecule at pilot plant in Brazil

Portuguese utility EDP - Energias de Portugal SA (ELI:EDP) announced on Friday it produced the first green hydrogen molecule at its pilot electrolysis facility in the Brazilian state of Ceara.

The hydrogen plant is part of a research and development (R&D) project at the Pecem Thermoelectric Complex in the town of Sao Goncalo do Amarante. The setup involved an investment of around EUR 7.5 million (USD 8m) and includes a 3-MW solar power plant and an electrolyser module with a capacity to produce 250 normal cubic metres per hour (Nm3/h) of gas, EDP said.

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The fuel will be produced with guarantees of renewable origin, according to the utility.

The official launch of the pilot project is scheduled for January 2023. The R&D part of it will focus on developing a roadmap with analyses of scalability scenarios, considering all the links of the hydrogen production chain, the Portuguese company said.

Other partners on board include Brazil’s Hytron, which supplied the electrolyser and executed the project alongside EDP, the GESEL group, which evaluated scenarios of scalability of hydrogen production, identifying the economic, sectorial and market viability of the project, IATI, performing the technical feasibility study and Brazilian power sector regulator Aneel.

The Pecem green hydrogen unit is the first for the EDP group and the first in Ceara.

"We chose the Pecem complex to house our first green hydrogen plant in Brazil, because we recognise that Ceara brings together strategic characteristics to lead the process of introducing green hydrogen in the country, both for its exceptional solar and wind potential - fundamental for the production of gas - and for its location and excellent offer of infrastructure for the flow of this product in the international market," Joao Marques da Cruz, CEO of EDP Brasil, said in a statement.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.064)