German-Brazilian Energy Partnership

Project description

Title: German-Brazilian Energy Partnership
Commissioned by: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) 
Country: Brazil
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME)
Overall term: 2008 to 2023

Context

Brazil has great potential for further expansion of the use of renewable energy, in particular in terms of wind, solar and biomass sources. The rates of growth are remarkable and slowly cutting into hydropower’s share of the energy market, which has fallen from 80 per cent to 63 per cent. The Brazilian energy market is thus one of the most low-carbon in the world, but further diversification is needed.

Launched in 2008, the German-Brazilian Energy Partnership is part of the global project Support for Bilateral Energy Partnerships in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH supports the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) in implementing and conceptually developing energy partnerships (EP) and dialogue with Algeria, Brazil, Chile, China, Ethiopia, India, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia, as well as in the establishment of new dialogue structures with other developing countries and emerging economies.

Objective

Brazilian energy policy favours a sustainable, secure and affordable energy supply. Stakeholders from business, politics and research regularly exchange information on current developments.

Approach

BMWK is responsible for implementing the Energy Partnership on the German side. The cooperation and negotiation partner of the Energy Partnership on the Brazilian side is the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME).
Other central actors are:

• German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV),
• German Embassy in Brasília,
• Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), 
• The Brazilian Energy Research Company (EPE),
• With the support of GIZ, a permanent secretariat in Brasília has been set up to provide organisational and technical support to the Partnership. The Secretariat serves as an information platform and contact point for all stakeholders and interested parties from the fields of politics, industry, science and civil society.

In addition to the high-level steering committees, the project has set up two thematic working groups, which regularly exchange information on renewable energy, bioenergy and energy efficiency. These working groups are open committees in which stakeholders from business, research and civil society can participate alongside government representatives. The Energy Partnership also organises specialist workshops, conferences on energy policy and study trips.

The Secretariat of the Energy Partnership is located in Brasília and Berlin, where it provides content-based and organisational support to the Energy Partnership’s activities and serves all involved and interested stakeholders as a point of contact.

Results

• The German-Brazilian Energy Partnership holds regular meetings of the steering committees and working groups. At these meetings, high-level political decision-makers and representatives of private-sector companies, industry associations, financial and research institutions exchange information on the development and implementation of national energy policy. 
• Several formats have been introduced to support Brazil's energy policy on expanding the use of renewable energy. These include, for example, workshops on auction models, market design and flexibilisation in the energy sector and energy efficiency in industry.
• The project has also carried out study visits on topics such as energy efficiency incentive mechanisms using tendering models in the electricity sector.
• To promote energy policy exchange, two German-Brazilian Energy Days have been held in São Paulo (May 2018) and in Rio de Janeiro (July 2019). Smaller events also took place which mainly focused on private-sector issues in the energy sector.
• The project supported the establishment and implementation of two meetings of the local economic advisory council in São Paulo. More than 20 representatives of German companies in Brazil took part. This has contributed to promotion of the private sector and closer exchange between companies and public authorities.
• Through the traveling exhibition ‘Energiewende’, which took place in Brazil in three cities, the German energy transition was communicated and explained.

Last update: December 2022