Brazil is emerging as one of the most promising clean industry stories in the world. The country boasts vast resources, including renewable energy, biomass, and critical minerals, providing strategic access to expanding global demand centers—pillars underpinning a major industrial transformation. New data from the Mission Possible Partnership’s Global Project Tracker reveals the scale of this opportunity, with 34 projects representing a potential investment of US$306 billion encompassing clean fuels, chemicals, and metals. The new report from Mission Possible Partnership and the Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA), “Clean Industry on the Rise: The Foundation for Resilient Value Chains,” indicates that 19 clean industry projects, totaling approximately US$43 billion in estimated investments, reached the Final Investment Decision (FID) in the last six months, more than double the pace recorded a year earlier, as countries and companies seek to reduce their exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets and strengthen industrial supply chains. “Clean industry is advancing because the world has changed. In an increasingly fragmented and unstable landscape, dependence on fossil fuels has repeatedly proven to be a source of exposure to price shocks, supply disruptions, and economic crises, in addition to continuing to fuel the climate crisis and its growing impacts. Countries that develop cleaner industrial systems can gain greater control over the essential elements of their economies: energy, food, materials, and industrial goods that underpin all aspects of people's lives,” says Faustine Delasalle, CEO of Mission Possible Partnership and Executive Director of the Industrial Transition Accelerator. Brazil's clean industry portfolio is worth US$306 billion. Of the 34 projects mapped, three aluminum plants are already in operation. One sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project reached the FID after the Tracker update. 25 clean ammonia projects, 4 clean methanol projects, and one more project focused on SAF production have already been announced. Of the US$306 billion that make up the total portfolio, US$219 billion refers to renewable energy infrastructure, while the remaining US$87 billion is linked to industrial assets. This distribution highlights one of the main attributes of the Brazilian opportunity: its competitive advantage originates in energy. Its abundance of renewable resources positions Brazil in a privileged way to supply the low-cost clean energy inputs that will be increasingly crucial for the competitiveness of global industry. Clean fuels represent a strategic opportunity for Brazil in a rapidly expanding global market. Clean fuels are one of the most dynamic areas of the Brazilian portfolio, with projects focused on the production of SAF, methanol, and clean ammonia. On a global scale, investments in this segment are accelerating. In the last six months, four SAF production units, nine methanol plants, and three clean ammonia projects have achieved FID (Financial Incentive Development). Pioneering mandates for the use of agroforestry systems (AFS) in the European Union and Asian countries have contributed to boosting investments, offering producers a clearer path to securing long-term buyers and providing greater predictability of returns for investors. In this context, the availability of native raw materials, the abundance of land, and Brazil's solid agricultural expertise position the country favorably to capture a significant share of this expanding market. In this context, Acelen Renewables secured FID for its US$1.5 billion AFS biorefinery in Bahia, becoming the first project in Brazil supported by ITA to reach this crucial milestone for its implementation. The project is a pioneering demonstration of the opportunity presented by clean fuels for Brazil. The biorefinery will utilize macauba, a native Brazilian oilseed, as a raw material for AFS production. The plant is a resilient species, capable of thriving in low-fertility soils, with reduced water requirements and without competing with food crops. These characteristics make macauba an environmentally responsible raw material, contributing to the decarbonization of aviation without posing risks to biodiversity, forests, food security, or land use priorities. “The projects selected by the ITA receive dedicated support to strengthen their attractiveness as investments, and Acelen's FID is a perfect example of this support in action. For SAF projects in Brazil, the ITA has been working on how to improve access for high-integrity Brazilian bio-SAF to international markets. This market access is vital to securing the types of purchase agreements that Acelen obtained to secure its financing,” emphasizes Marc Farre Moutinho, ITA leader in Brazil. Commercial partnerships and the path to industrial resilience The report highlights that commercial partnerships focused on clean industry between countries with complementary capabilities offer a path to enhance resilience, competitiveness, and industrial growth. For Brazil, which has abundant renewable energy resources and a growing portfolio of projects, the opportunity extends beyond the domestic market. The country has the potential to become a competitive exporter of low-carbon industrial commodities to global markets. Despite current growth, further acceleration is not guaranteed. The report highlights three key priorities for transforming the current moment into a broader and more lasting industrial shift: creating more robust markets for clean products; developing commercial partnerships that connect regions with low-cost clean energy to major industrial demand centers in a mutually beneficial way; and mobilizing public and private capital to reduce the risks associated with investments in pioneering projects.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.