A New Phase of the Energy Big Push Has Been Implemented in Brazil

From 2021 to 2023, the Energy Big Push 2.0 (EBP 2.0) was carried out with the aim of promoting innovation for a sustainable energy transition in Brazil.

EBP 2.0 continued, updated and expanded the work started in 2019, when Brazil’s federal government – through the Energy Research Office (EPE), the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the Center for Management and Strategic Studies (CGEE), the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) – launched the Energy Big Push (EBP) initiative. One of the motivations was to subsidize Brazil’s participation in Mission Innovation, an international initiative aimed at accelerating innovation in clean energy. In association with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the EBP mapped and analyzed Brazilian investments in energy innovation. One of the main outcomes of the EBP’s first phases was the development of the Inova-e Platform, which made data and information on investment in Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) in energy in Brazil accessible to the most diverse audiences, in a systematic and comprehensive way.

In its 2.0 phase, the EBP updated and expanded the Inova-e Platform, created a digital platform prototype to promote university-business interaction on innovation in the energy sector, and promoted the coordination and commitment of stakeholders and communication activities.

The Energy Big Push 2.0 was carried out with support from the European Union’s EUROCLIMA+ programme, was executed by CGEE in partnership with EPE and was implemented by ECLAC and German Technical Cooperation (GIZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), with support from the MME and MCTI.

Over the course of EBP 2.0, data on investment in energy RD&D to 2022 was updated, and disaggregated information was provided on R&D projects and demonstration projects. In a centralized way, based on a process of consultations with various stakeholders active in the energy and innovation field in Brazil, new indicators on energy innovation were mapped and prioritized, using a multicriteria methodology. Having identified patents as an indicator of great interest and priority, EBP 2.0 worked on developing a new module dedicated to green patents in the country’s energy sector. As a result of EBP 2.0, a new module of unprecedented indicators on green patents in energy was made available on the Inova-e Platform. For example, the published data shows that 2,028 green energy patents were filed in Brazil in 2020, the majority of which were patents in renewable energy (38.5%) and energy efficiency (30.6%).

EBP 2.0 also developed a prototype for the digital environment to provide connections between universities and businesses, with the goal of accelerating innovation in sustainable energy solutions in Brazil. Strengthening university-business interaction – which was identified in the EBP’s first phases as an important gap to overcome in order to drive innovation in sustainable energy in the country – was the focus of building the prototype, called Connect-e Platform. Consultations were held with potential users of the platform, through five workshops in which participants discussed user needs, the functionalities of the prototypes and commitment and governance. The prototype is in the development phase and is expected to be operational in 2025, becoming an open platform that aims to promote expanded investments and accelerate innovation in Brazil’s clean energy sector.

EBP 2.0 was also dedicated to the coordination, communication and integration of stakeholders. Structured according to governance mechanisms based on a Consultations Council and an Executive Committee, EBP 2.0 was managed in a collective and multistakeholder fashion. In its 2.0 phase, the EBP carried out six events: four of them national and two of them international.

Among the national events, in the webinar “Innovation in energy in Brazil: How to measure it" – held on August 29, 2022 – speakers discussed the results of the first workshop on Axis 1 and the selection of indicators on energy innovation. On November 3, 2022, a webinar entitled “University-Business Connection on Energy. How to promote it” presented the opportunities and challenges for developing a digital platform dedicated to promoting connections between those supplying and those demanding sustainable energy solutions, which would act as an intermediary within the energy innovation dynamic. Meanwhile, in the webinar “How to drive innovation to accelerate an inclusive and sustainable energy transition,” held on March 10, 2023, the main results and inputs achieved by the EBP project and the Inova-e Platform were presented. In addition, the development of a new module for patent indicators on Inova-e was announced, and participants discussed the importance of developing a digital prototype to connect those supplying and those demanding sustainable energy solutions. Finally, during the fourth webinar entitled “Green Patents and the Energy Transition in Brazil: Data and strategic information on patents in the context of the energy transition in Brazil” – held on October 6, 2023 – the Inova-e green patents module was launched and experts analyzed the results obtained.

In terms of international events, on September 5, 2022, the webinar “Improving the collection of public data on Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) in energy: The experience of Latin American countries” was held with the objective of expanding and facilitating knowledge dissemination and promoting an opportunity for exchange among peers involved in efforts and methodologies for tracking investments in clean energy innovation in select Latin American countries (Brazil and Chile). The event also promoted interaction with other members of Mission Innovation and interested countries, through an exchange of experiences on the state and mapping of clean energy innovation processes. The second international event was a webinar entitled “Dialogues on financing Green Innovation” – held on November 28, 2023 – that sought to stimulate the exchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas among experts from national and foreign institutions on the issue of financing green innovation. The event provided a space for discussing opportunities for access and suggestions about the processes and requirements needed to access financing opportunities for green innovation. This event was co-sponsored as part of two projects supported by the European Union’s EUROCLIMA+ programme: EBP 2.0 and “Construction of a national and regional strategy for the development and adoption of sustainable technologies (green patents),” in partnership with the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) of Brazil and in conjunction with the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services of Brazil.

Access the Inova-e Platform and view the new module for indicators on green energy patents in Brazil: https://dashboard.epe.gov.br/apps/inova-e-eng/index.html