Energy Mission to the Netherlands: Renewable energy is priority in RS

The delegation from Rio Grande do Sul that visited the Netherlands in June, brought in their luggage important information and contacts for cooperation in the areas of green hydrogen and offshore energy. Promoted by FIERGS in cooperation with the NBSO Porto Alegre and the government of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, the delegation joined around 20 people among government representatives, entrepreneurs and press. The meetings with Dutch entrepreneurs and investors lasted three days. It worth to highlight that Brazil is the main partner of the Netherlands in Latin America.

The interest of the Brazilians participants in the Netherlands – the most advanced country on development and installation of wind parks – is related to the energetic matrix model followed by Rio Grande do Sul. Today, one third of the state energy production comes from renewable sources and it will be enlarged in the next few years.

The visit to the Netherlands started at the energy port complex of Eemshaven, in Groningen. The place has the largest in-land wind park of the Netherlands, with hundreds of aero generators, and more than 17 off-shore wind parks. The complex also has innovative projects on the green energy generation.

The group had the opportunity to attended a presentation about the wind park of Emmelord, in the city of Noordoostpolder. There are 86 installed turbines along the dikes, on the water and inland. Those turbines generate 1.4 billion kWk annually, able to supply 400 thousand residences. The delegation also visited the Windpark Krammer and later on participated on a matchmaking meeting with entrepreneurs from Haia.

The impressions of the participants from Rio Grande do Sul about the mission to the Netherlands

“We understand that the state of RS has a lot to advance. We have been working to develop the green hydrogen in the local market, but we are aware that we also need to reach the external market. The Netherlands is interested in importing green hydrogen produced in other countries. The mission was a great opportunity to narrow our relationship with the Dutches and let them know that we are open for cooperation and trade”, said  the Secretary of the Civil House of Rio Grande do Sul, Artur Lemos.

“We are interested to look for resources in order to consolidate our initiatives in the green hydrogen field, even knowing that those are long-term projects”, said the President of Federação das Indústrias do Rio Grande do Sul (Fiergs), Gilberto Porcello Petry.

“We have several projects to be licensed on the sea and we are building the outlines for the licensing on lagoons , involving the community and the State government. There are companies interested in installing wind generators on the water of RS, many of them already present in the market”, said Daniela Cardeal, Director at the Rio Grande do Sul Renewable Energy Industries Union (Sindienergia-RS).

Energy is the keyword to guarantee the economic development of RS in the next decade. Some countries worldwide are already facing difficulties to deliver energy to industries. For this reason in some areas started a migration process of industrial factories to better supplied regions. We are paying close attention to this scenery in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. That’s why the state is trying to lead a consistent program on energy transition, attracting investments to RS”, said Joel Maraschin, State Secretary for Economic Development of Rio Grande do Sul.