Posted on April 29, 2021
Industrial gases company White Martins has signed a preliminary agreement with the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex (CIPP) to support the development of a green hydrogen hub in Brazil.
The Port complex, situated 60km from Fortaleza, will be built by Australia’s Enegix Energy following an investment of $5.4bn to develop the hub with support from White Martins.
White Martins hopes to expand on its current industrial gases plant, situated in the Port, by introducing new facilities that support hydrogen production and distribution, ammonia production, hydrogen liquefaction and the use of hydrogen in transport.
This is due to the port’s robust renewable electricity grid, which is compatible with the electricity-intensive needs of the electrolysis process, as well as a gas distribution network that could transport the hydrogen.
The Port complex already contains multiple heavy industrial facilities including steel, fertilisers, cement and mining with the new hydrogen project looking to develop new sustainable variants in each of these products.
The hub could be geared towards the European market as well as domestic needs with Rotterdam positioning itself as a hub for EU distribution of green hydrogen serving as an entry point for the fuel coming from Brazil.
White Martins, part of the German engineering firm Linde, has not indicated how much it will invest to support the project.
Ricardo Cavalcante, President of the Federation of Industries of the State of Ceará (FIEC), said he sees Ceará as the world leader in the production of green hydrogen in the near future.
“We are well located, we are experienced in clean energy, both wind and solar. This makes us unbeatable in the world,” he said.
“Green hydrogen is already a reality, and the entire industrial base of some countries is being changed.”
