Germany's SEFE is collaborating with Brazil's Eletrobras to supply 200,000 mt/year of green hydrogen to Germany from 2030, SEFE said in a statement Nov. 13.
SEFE, Eletrobras and Kuwaiti project developer EnerTech will jointly develop a grid-connected electrolysis plant in Brazil, powered by hydropower and other renewables electrolysis, with the hydrogen used to produce ammonia, which SEFE will ship to Germany.
The German state-owned company will then distribute and sell green hydrogen to customers in Europe, it said.
"By adding those supplies to our portfolio and investing in the local production of green hydrogen, we are realizing our dual ambition of both securing energy supply for Europe and being a front runner of the energy transition," SEFE CEO Egbert Laege said in the statement.
The parties intend to be long-term co-owners of the hydrogen production plant, they said.
Italo Freitas, executive vice president of commercialization at Eletrobras, said 97% of the company's energy generation came from clean sources, ensuring that hydrogen and ammonia supply would meet EU rules on renewable hydrogen under the revised Renewable Energy Directive.
Brazilian green hydrogen
Brazil is seen as a potential low-cost hydrogen producer that could supply Europe, which is set to be heavily dependent on imports to meet its clean energy and climate targets.
Germany itself could require imports for up to 70% of its 2030 hydrogen demand.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the cost of producing hydrogen via alkaline electrolysis in Europe at Eur7.52/kg ($7.98/kg) Nov. 12 (Netherlands, including capex), based on month-ahead power prices. Proton exchange membrane electrolysis production was assessed at Eur7.73/kg.
Eletrobras is also studying green hydrogen production at Acu Port with Prumo.
Elsewhere in Brazil, green hydrogen projects under development in the northeastern Piaui state -- with a total planned capacity of 22 GW -- are targeting exports below $5/kg, with production from 2028.
The Solatio project, with Spanish backers and a planned 11.4-GW capacity, is to be built at Piaui's Export Processing Zone, or ZPE, a free trade zone near where the major Parnaiba river meets the Atlantic Ocean.
Additionally, the planned 10.8-GW Green Energy Park hydrogen project will also be built in the ZPE, backed by European investors eyeing ammonia exports to Europe. It is developing an import terminal on the Croatian island of Krk.
