Brazil’s abundant renewable energy resources and location enable it to play a unique role in ramping up renewable fuel production for use in the maritime shipping sector. This study explores the potential of Brazilian ports to become key hubs for supplying renewable hydrogen and its derivatives, renewable ammonia and renewable methanol.

We examine the best conditions for producing, and selling these renewable energy sources, their potential application in green shipping corridors, and the readiness of ports as determined by factors including existing infrastructure and logistical capacity. We also analyze existing ship traffic and estimate the potential bunkering demand for renewable marine fuels to support zero-emission vessels servicing international and domestic routes from selected ports. This helps provide a foundation for future investment and policy decisions aimed at developing green shipping infrastructure in Brazil.

Our port readiness assessment identified six Brazilian ports as candidate hubs for renewable marine fuel bunkering. Three are public ports—Santos, Rio Grande, and Itaqui—and three are privately owned ports—Pecem, Navegantes, and Porto do Açu. Among the 10 sample routes moving key commodities, including iron ore and container cargo, between the candidate ports and ports around the world, we estimated that five routes could be completed with direct use of renewable liquid hydrogen in a fuel cell without refueling en route. We found all routes could be completed without refueling if ships use renewable hydrogen-derived ammonia and methanol in internal combustion engines. To successfully complete all 10 routes, with at least one ship on each route, we need a total energy requirement of 1,785 tonnes of hydrogen if we consider the minimum consumption of renewable fuel across all routes. Conversely, if we look at the maximum consumption of renewable fuel for all 10 routes, the total energy requirement is 1,911 tonnes. This translates to a demand for renewable electricity of 82 to 92 GWh.

Targeted investments in renewable energy production, storage, and bunkering facilities at these ports could accelerate establishing green shipping corridors. Supporting these would align with Brazil’s goals for maritime decarbonization and leadership in the global green shipping transition.

Source: ICCT