Neoenergia to enable green hydrogen-powered public transport in Ceará

Neoenergia (a subsidiary of Iberdrola) and the Government of Ceará have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement an urban mobility project powering public transport using green hydrogen.

Fortaleza, the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceará, will be the first city in Brazil to use green hydrogen in urban mobility using fuel cell buses under the ‘Green Corridor’ project.

The pilot project will be conducted in Fortaleza to reach 18 clean energy supply points. The project will then be expanded to 70 municipalities, six of which are northeastern capitals, serving 66% of the Northeastern states to benefit up to 37 million people.

Neoenergia is an integrated energy company operating in the four segments of the electricity sector: generation, transmission, distribution and commercialisation. The idea is to reduce emissions with new investments and expand business opportunities and job creation in Ceará.

In February, the Government of Ceará established the Green Hydrogen HUB in the state, in partnership with the Federation of Industries of Ceará (Fiec), Federal University of Ceará (UFC) and Pecém Complex (CIPP S/A). Since then, it signed four memoranda of cooperation with Enegix, White Martins, Fortescue and Qair aiming to produce green hydrogen and transform Ceará, a leading player in the global hydrogen market.

In July, Qair Brazil signed an MoU with the Government of Ceará for the development of a green hydrogen production plant with electricity generated through the Sea Dragon Maritime Wind Complex and an offshore wind power park. The total investment planned is $6.95 billion, generating 2,000 jobs during the construction of the plants and 600 direct jobs once the projects are in full operation. The project will also include the development of an electrolysis plant with a capacity of 2,240 MW, for the production of green hydrogen of around 296,000 tons/year, located at the Green Hydrogen Hub, in the Industrial and Port Complex of Pecém. 

Early this month, EDP do Brasil signed with the Government of Ceará the guarantee to install the pilot project to implement a green hydrogen plant in Pecém, the first in Ceará, with a capacity of 250 Nm3/h of gas. Its operation is expected to start as early as December 2022, attracting a total of R$ 41.9 million in investment.