In a July column for the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, journalist and economic commentator Celso Ming suggested that green hydrogen could become Brazil’s “new pre-salt,” a reference to the pre-salt oil reserves the country discovered in 2006.
Over the course of 15 years, pre-salt reserves have yielded 5.5 billion barrels of oil, or 25 percent of all the oil Brazil has ever extracted since its first foray into the business in 1941. But the reserves are starting to be tapped out. State-controlled oil firm Petrobras recently announced a production decrease of 100,000 barrels per day in the region between 2023 and 2027 — thus Mr. Ming’s desire to find an energy source to fill that gap.
In June, the European Union announced a EUR 2 billion (USD 2.14 billion) investment in green hydrogen production in Brazil. Estimates suggest the country could generate BRL 2.2 trillion (USD 440 billion) worth of energy by 2050.
However, while the country undoubtedly has significant potential to excel in the international green hydrogen sector, several challenges need to be addressed first, particularly by Brazilian policymakers.
According to experts interviewed by The Brazilian Report, there is a lack of a coordinated national plan to organize the production chain and chart a way forward to serve both domestic...
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