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Vale entered into a new partnership with Gasmar to supply natural gas to its pelletizing plant in São Luís, Maranhão. An unprecedented gas distribution network in the state will be installed.
To enable the use of natural gas, until 2024, at the Pelletizing Plant in São Luís, Maranhão, Vale signed a contract with Companhia Maranhense de Gas (Gasmar) and Eneva. The purpose of the signature is to replace the use of fuel oil used in the industrial plant with a more renewable source of energy, advancing the company's carbon dioxide emission reduction agenda. The product generated at the pelletizing plant serves as raw material for steel production.
Natural gas distribution network will be installed in Maranhão
Based on the contract signed with Vale, Gasmar will start installing an unprecedented natural gas distribution network in the state of Maranhão, interconnecting the Port of Itaqui to the company's area, in the Itaqui-Bacanga region.
The new network installed by Gasmar for the pelletizing plant can also develop the conditions for the use of natural gas by other plants and sectors in Maranhão. Eneva, an energy company, will supply the fuel that will be used by the Vale unit.
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According to the Executive Vice President of Global Business Solutions at Vale, Alexandre Pereira, this contract with Gasmar is an essential milestone for Vale. It represents another big step in the transition of the energy matrix of its pelletizing plants, giving consistency to the zero carbon agenda and making viable an unprecedented natural gas distribution network in Maranhão, which, in addition to serving Vale, may also extend to other industries in the state.
Contract will bring more savings to Vale
According to Pereira, the relevance of this process is mainly due to its contribution to the development of Maranhão and its communities. These fronts are fully aligned with Vale's purpose of improving life and transforming the future.
The new contract with Gasmar for the pelletizing plant will also represent a reduction in fuel costs, considering that the natural gas it is cheaper than fuel oil.
Another relevant aspect is that the recent regulation implemented by the gas law, as part of the sector's unbundling movement, makes it possible for this contract to be carried out within the scope of the Free Market. This action, therefore, signals adherence to the Brazilian movement to open the natural gas market, which advocates a more dynamic and competitive environment.
Vale's Share Program
The contracting of natural gas also generates an essential social bias for Maranhão. This is because it is part of Vale's Share Program, which provides for social investments by the chain of distributors, developing an integrated network of commitment to sustainable socioeconomic development in the region.
The initiative is in line with Vale's commitment to the 2030 Agenda, aimed at communities and the promotion of social progress in the places where it operates. With the conversion of energy matrix of the São Luís Pelletizing Plant, in Maranhão, scheduled to take place in 2024, all of Vale's pelletizing plants will use natural gas to replace fuel oil as an energy source.
In addition to São Luís, the company operates pelletizing plants in Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Sohar. Natural gas is a more sustainable fuel compared to other sources such as fuel oil. It has fewer contaminants and generates cleaner combustion, with less greenhouse gas emissions.
