German thyssenkrupp and Unigel to increase capacity of Brazilian green hydrogen plant

HOUSTON (ICIS)–German firm thyssenkrupp nucera and Unigel have announced they signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to increase the capacity of the green hydrogen plant that Unigel is developing in Bahia, Brazil, from 60MW to 240MW of water electrolysis.

Unigel’s facility will be the first industrial-scale green hydrogen plant in Brazil. It is planned to be delivered at the end of the year and in the first phase, the plant will have a total water electrolysis capacity of 60MW and an initial production capacity of 10,000 short tons/year of green hydrogen and 60,000 short tons/year of green ammonia.

In a statement, the companies said the new plant will be an important stimulus for the development of the entire region and is a key step to continue their collaboration to accelerate the green transformation through the development of the green hydrogen economy worldwide.

“The green hydrogen and green ammonia will be offered to customers seeking to decarbonise their production chains such as the steel industry, oil refineries and ammonia producers. Green ammonia will also be used in Unigel’s value chain, as it is a raw material for the production of fertilizers and acrylics,” said Roberto Noronha Santos, Unigel CEO.

For their part, thyssenkrupp said with its technologies for the development of a hydrogen economy it is helping to pave the way for a green transformation.

“Brazil has not only set ambitious climate protection plans, but is also implementing them. This includes, in particular, consistently exploiting the opportunities offered by green hydrogen. This is because Brazil is one of the nations predestined to take on a key role in the green transformation by consistently exploiting the potential in renewable energies,” said Werner Ponikwar, thyssenkrupp nucera CEO and chairman.