Companies Aker Horizons, Statkraft and Sowitec are united in a new partnership for a project in the state of Bahia, which will boost the renewable energy market in Brazil, with the production of new bets in the segment, green hydrogen and ammonia
Last Tuesday (26/04), the Norwegian multinationals Aker Horizons and Statkraft and the German company Sowitec announced their hybrid project for the production of renewable energy and green hydrogen and ammonia in the state of Bahia. The production plant is the companies' new bet for the energy market in Brazil, especially after the fertilizer crisis at the beginning of 2022.
Hybrid project for the production of renewable energy from green hydrogen and ammonia by the multinationals Aker, Statkraft and Sowitec will be built in Bahia
Bahia is already the scene of gigantic undertakings in the areas of mining, civil construction and, mainly, renewable energy, and now it will be the site of the green ammonia and hydrogen production plant that will be built by the Norwegian and German multinationals Aker, Statkraft and Sowitec. The companies announced the project last week and gave more some details about how it will be carried out in the state over the next few years.
Thus, the project is expected to be completed in 2027 to start operating and benefit the energy segment. The multinationals intend to replace gray ammonia with green ammonia for the production of fertilizers and, in addition, to carry out a large production of renewable energy from green hydrogen in the plant. In addition, the partnership also included a new plant between Aker and Statkraft in green hydrogen projects in India, where the energy will be directed to decarbonize steel production in the Asian country.
Aker Clean Hydrogen is a company specialized in clean hydrogen, controlled by Aker Horizons, of the traditional Norwegian industrial group Aker, while Statkraft is one of the main companies in the field of renewable energy in Europe, working in hydroelectric projects, wind energy, solar and biomass. Finally, Sowitec is the last of the entrepreneurial multinationals that will work on the project and is focused on the renewable energy market, having 8 GW of wind and solar projects in Brazil, among assets installed or under construction to start operations soon.
Brazil is still very dependent on fertilizers and a green hydrogen and ammonia production project can contribute to this segment, in addition to the renewable energy market
Brazil is one of the largest agricultural producers in the world and has a large domestic demand for fertilizers, being responsible for a large part of the importation in the global market. Thus, the country imports more than 85% of everything it consumes, mainly in relation to fertilizers containing nitrogen, such as gray ammonia, according to the National Association for the Diffusion of Fertilizers (Anda), which controls the entry of the product into Brazil and inspects its use.
In this way, the project for the production of renewable energy and green hydrogen and ammonia from the multinationals aims to bring a viable alternative to make this market more flexible in relation to domestic supply. With that, the president of Aker Clean Hydrogen, Knut Nyborg, stated that “Both India and Brazil are large consumers of hydrogen, have supportive government policies and benefit from world-class renewable energy resources, which offers significant opportunities for the production of green hydrogen and ammonia”.
The company believes that replacing gray ammonia with green will be essential to decarbonize the agricultural sector in Brazil and that the project in partnership with multinationals is the first step for this to happen in the country.
