Tag Archives: Ludmila Nascimento

Vale hits renewable power milestone ahead of 2025 deadline

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Vale has announced that all the electricity used in its operations in Brazil in 2023 came from renewable sources, such as hydroelectric, wind and solar power plants. Thus, the company has achieved its goal of having 100% renewable electricity consumption in Brazil two years ahead of its original 2025 schedule.

The information is highlighted in the 2023 edition of the Vale Integrated Report.

Having reached the target, Vale has zeroed its indirect CO2 emissions in Brazil, which correspond to Scope 2 emissions. The company still has the challenge of achieving 100% renewable energy consumption in its global operations by 2030. At the moment, this indicator stands at 88.5%.

Vale Director of Energy and Decarbonization, Ludmila Nascimento, said: “We are announcing an important milestone in Vale’s decarbonisation strategy, which aims to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions (direct and indirect) by 33% by 2030 and to become net-zero by 2050. As we are progressing on our targets, we are helping to make Brazil’s energy matrix even cleaner, contributing to society’s fight against climate change.”

The start-up of the Sol do Cerrado solar complex in November 2022 was key to achieving the target two years ahead of schedule. Located in Minas Gerais, Brazil, the solar complex represented an investment of $590 million by Vale. It is one of the largest solar energy parks in Latin America, with an installed capacity of 766 MW (peak), equivalent to the consumption of a city of 800,000 inhabitants. In July 2023, the complex reached its maximum capacity. It has the potential of contributing to around 16% of all the electricity consumed by Vale in Brazil.

The path towards 100% renewable consumption began to be traced by Vale back in the 1990s, when the company acquired its first hydroelectric plants. Today, Vale is supplied by a renewable energy portfolio of 2.6 GW of installed capacity, equivalent to the consumption of more than 3 million inhabitants. There are 14 assets held through direct and indirect participation in consortia and companies (ten hydroelectric plants, three wind farms and Sol do Cerrado). If it were a power generator, Vale would be the 15th largest in the country.

In its global operations, Vale is also moving towards 100% renewable energy consumption by 2030. The company invests in joint venture partnerships, renewable generation certificates in contracts and innovation initiatives for better efficiency in the use of batteries.

Vale is also working to reduce its direct Scope 1 emissions. In the mines and railroads, where diesel is currently intensively consumed, the company is studying the adoption of alternative fuels, such as ethanol for trucks and green ammonia for locomotives. In the pelletising furnaces, the strategy is to replace anthracite with zero-emission biocarbon, made from the carbonisation of biomass.

Last year, Vale signed an agreement with Wabtec for the supply of three electric locomotives and the start of studies into the development of a green ammonia-powered locomotive engine. The company also produced pellets with 100% biocarbon for the first time in an industrial test.

Vale hits solar generation capacity at Sol do Cerrado energy complex in Brazil

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Vale says it has reached maximum capacity at the Sol do Cerrado solar energy complex in Brazil, one of the largest solar parks in Latin America.

The project is set to supply 16% of all the energy consumed by Vale in its operations in Brazil, in line with the company’s strategy of achieving zero CO2 emissions by 205o.

Vale reached the full installed capacity of the Sol do Cerrado project, in Jaíba, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on Tuesday (July 18). On this date, the company received authorisation from the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) for the commercial operation of the last photovoltaic plant of the project, of a total of 17. The project has an installed capacity of 766 MW (peak), equivalent to the consumption of a city of 800,000 inhabitants, Vale says. Operating at full capacity, the solar complex will supply 16% of all the energy consumed by Vale in Brazil.

Sol do Cerrado, whose investments totalled around R$3 billion ($590m), is an important step in helping Vale achieve its climate goals of reducing net carbon emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 33% by 2030 and zeroing them by 2050. The energy generated by the solar park will reduce Vale’s emissions by 134,000 t/y CO2e, which represents the emission of approximately 100,000 compact cars, according to the company. Vale also expects to reach 100% of renewable energy consumption in Brazil by 2025, and globally by 2030.

Vale began operations at Sol do Cerrado in November last year, with the start-up of four of the 17 photovoltaic plants or sub-parks of the complex, and expanded the operation over the following months, according to authorisations from the regulatory body.

The project has 1.4 million solar panels with an automatic tracking system of the sun’s movement during the day, for greater use of the sun’s rays in energy generation. Some 10.2 million metres of cables are used to conduct the energy.

Currently, Sol do Cerrado has about 100 permanent workers of various qualifications, such as electrotechnicians, electricians and general service assistants. During the implementation of the solar park, between 2021 and 2023, about 3,000 jobs were generated at the peak of activities, with almost 50% deemed to be local labour and 16% of the total jobs taken up by women.

Ludmila Nascimento, Vale’s Energy and Decarbonisation Director, said: “Over the past few months, we have been working hard on the ramp-up of the project, which went exactly as planned. We have successfully connected the 17 plants of the solar park and should already reach peak production next summer. Sol do Cerrado is a complex that brings together local development and renewable energy, contributing to our goal of being leaders in sustainable mining.”

The project also includes a 15-km-long transmission line, with a voltage of 230,000 volts, connecting the Sol do Cerrado and Jaíba collector substations, from where the energy is discharged to the National Interconnected System.

Vale and Wabtec look to decarbonise Carajás Railroad operations with battery power and ammonia

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Vale has announced a partnership with Wabtec Corporation to advance the decarbonisation of the company’s rail operations. The deal includes an order for three of Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery locomotives and a collaboration to test ammonia as a potential clean, alternative fuel to replace diesel.

The three 100% battery-powered FLXdrive locomotives will be used on the Carajás Railroad (EFC), which runs the world’s largest iron ore train consisting of 330 railcars transporting 45,000 t.

Today, three to four diesel locomotives pull the train. Once delivered, the FLXdrives will join the diesel locomotives to form Brazil’s first hybrid consist pulling the train uphill for 140 km in Açailândia, in the state of Maranhão, where fuel consumption is the highest. The FLXdrives will replace the two diesel locomotives, known as “dynamic helpers”, that are used to pull the train uphill today, Vale says.

Wabtec will build the FLXdrive locomotives at its plant in Contagem (state of Minas Gerais). The locomotives’ delivery is forecast for 2026.

Vale’s Director of Energy, Ludmila Nascimento, said: “Initially, we are maximising energy efficiency, replacing the diesel locomotives in the dynamic helper with battery ones, but the idea is that, in the future, the other locomotives on the train can be fueled by ammonia. This way, we would have a clean operation at EFC. This agreement is the first of many that we are seeking in order to accelerate the decarbonization of our railway operation.”

Vale and Wabtec will work together on a study to use ammonia as a clean alternative fuel, which does not emit CO2. The study will initially be carried out as lab tests to validate performance, emission reductions and feasibility. Among the advantages of ammonia is the fact that it allows the locomotive a longer range than other carbon-free fuels. In addition, ammonia has a high-octane rating and an established large-scale distribution infrastructure, according to Vale. The two companies will carry out the study in a laboratory over the next two years.

The FLXdrive locomotive’s energy management system recharges the batteries along the route as the train brakes.

Alexandre Silva, Manager of Vale’s Powershift Program, said: “It’s what we call regenerative energy produced by dynamic braking. Today, that energy is lost when a traditional locomotive brakes. In the downhill sections, we will be able to recharge the batteries, without having to stop the train’s operation.”

Vale introduced the Powershift Program to study alternative technologies to replace fossil fuels with clean sources in the company’s operations.

The FLXdrive locomotives are estimated to save 25 million litres of diesel per year, considering the consumption of all the railway’s trains that use the dynamic helper. These savings would reduce carbon emissions by approximately 63,000 t, the equivalent emissions of around 14,000 passenger cars per year, it says.

Danilo Miyasato, President and General Manager of Wabtec for Latin America, said: “Technological advances in battery power and alternative fuels are accelerating the decarbonisation journey for railroads. Vale’s innovative approach to adopting alternative fuels for its locomotives will benefit its customers, shareholders and communities. The FLXdrive provides Vale productivity, safety, fuel economy and emission reductions for its rail network.”

In 2020, Vale announced an investment of between $4 billion and $6 billion to reduce its direct and indirect emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 33% by 2030. Today, Vale’s rail network represents 10% of the company’s carbon emissions. The initiative is one more step towards achieving the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the ambition of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to below 2°C by the end of the century.

The company also committed to reducing its net emissions from its value chain (Scope 3) by 15% by 2035.