A large-scale renewable hydrogen and ammonia project in Brazil's Rio Grande do Norte state has received environmental licensing, Brazil Green Energy (BGE) chief executive Fernando Vilela told Argus.
BGE will produce about 80,000 t/yr of renewable hydrogen to make nearly 440,000 t/yr of ammonia in a project in Areia Branca, Vilela said. BGE plans to start exports to Europe from 2030, and in a second phase, the company plans produce urea to supply the domestic market.
The project will have a 500MW electrolyser, which will primarily use wind and solar energy from a 1.7GW installation, also developed by BGE, that is already licensed. The electrolyser will also take some hydropower through a power purchase agreement in the early years of operation to help reduce costs, Vilela said.
BGE has started the process for the hydrogen plant installation licence, which could be approved still in 2026, allowing the company to start groundwork, Vilela said. The company is now progressing with the financing structure of the project.
Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts are carried out by Andritz for the electrolysis plant, Thyssenkrupp Uhde for the ammonia plant, and Siemens for power and transmission. Germany's DB is logistics partner for distribution to offtakers in Europe, Vilela said.
BGE initially considered developing the project in the Pecem complex, in northeastern state of Ceara, but opted for Areia Branca because of grid bottlenecks concerns in the Pecem area, Vilela said. The hydrogen and ammonia facilities will now sit next to the planned power generation assets.
BGE also has plans to develop an ammonia export terminal in Areia Branca, which will possibly be available to other ammonia producers in the future.
Total investment in the project, including power generation and the ammonia terminal, is around €2bn, Vilela said.
BGE is owned by renewables company Maturati.
