Program of Digital Technologies for the Oil&Gas and Renewable Energy Sector

• Grant number: 25/02569-8
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Gonçalves Evsukoff
• Grantee: Alexandre Gonçalves Evsukoff
• Host Institution: Instituto Alberto Luiz Coimbra de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa (COPPE). Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Ministério da Educação (Brasil)
• Pesquisadores principais: Adriano Mauricio de Almeida Cortes ; Alessandro Jacoud Peixoto ; Alvaro Luiz Gayoso de Azeredo Coutinho ; Amit Bhaya ; Argimiro Resende Secchi ; Bruno Didier Olivier Capron ; CLAUDIA MARIA LIMA WERNER ; Daniel Andrés Rodriguez ; Daniel Ratton Figueiredo ; Fernando Alves Rochinha ; Guilherme Horta Travassos ; Jean David Job Emmanuel Marie Caprace ; Joao Baptista de Oliveira e Souza Filho ; José Luis Drummond Alves ; Laura Silvia Bahiense da Silva Leite ; Luiz Landau ; Luiz Paulo de Freitas Assad ; Maira da Costa de Oliveira Lima Santo ; Maurício Bezerra de Souza Júnior ; Milad Shadman ; Natanael Nunes de Moura Junior ; Paulo Couto ; Paulo Laranjeira da Cunha Lage ; Príamo Albuquerque Melo Junior ; Rogério Pinto Espíndola ; Sergio Lima Netto ; Thiago Gamboa Ritto

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the oil and gas industry has played a fundamental role in the world's economic transformation. In the 21st century, the oil industry faces the challenge of redefining its limits through digitalization. Furthermore, the great challenge of sustainable development in this century is to balance the increase in energy demand with the restrictions imposed by carbon emissions and climate change. In this context, oil companies have positioned themselves as energy companies, directing their strategy and investments towards operating in the renewable energy sector.Digital technologies have been used in several industries to reduce operating costs and increase productivity. The oil and renewable energy industries are highly complex, involving a multidisciplinary chain of knowledge and different technologies in carrying out the stages of the process. There are great opportunities for the use of digital technologies in all sectors. Digital transformation is not only an opportunity, but an imperative necessity, since companies that do not master this technology may become obsolete in the face of increasingly rapid technological advances.There is currently a wide range of digital technologies that are already ready and can add value to the industry. However, in addition to the use of new technologies, digital transformation involves a new vision of the business and new ways of managing assets, and is primarily an organizational and cultural transformation and not simply a technological development. In this context, the training of human resources specialized in digital technologies and their applications in the oil and renewable energy industry is vital for the development of the sector.Training in digital technologies is inherently multidisciplinary since it requires the integration of different areas of knowledge with knowledge of specific industry problems. The research group associated with this proposal has participated in the PRH/ANP since 1999 with PRH 02. In the 2018-2025 cycle, PRH 4.1 was established in the current interdepartmental format, and was selected for renewal in this new cycle. Keeping up with changes in the industry scenario, PRH 4.1 is adding new skills and expanding its scope to the area of ¿¿renewable energy, given that part of Coppe/UFRJ's R&D project portfolio has been carried out in this area, many of them involving digital technologies.COPPE/UFRJ is home to the Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for Renewable Energy (CEAIRE), selected by FAPESP. The Center's mission is to develop new techniques and apply artificial intelligence, data science and high-performance computing to expand the technological content of applications aimed at the production, generation and distribution of energy from renewable sources. The network is formed by prominent national and international institutions. This initiative aims to contribute decisively to increasing the technological content in renewable energy applications, which are key to Brazil's future. The activities of the CEAIRE network are aligned and integrated with the research lines of PRH 4.1. The Interdepartmental Program of Digital Technologies for the Oil and Renewable Energy Sector (new PRH 4.1) aims to consolidate different research groups working in the area at COPPE/UFRJ, as well as the participation of the Engineering courses at the Polytechnic School of UFRJ. The integration of several areas of undergraduate and graduate teaching and research (concepts 6 and 7 in CAPES) of the largest graduate school in engineering in Latin America will form a center of excellence for the multidisciplinary training of engineers in different segments of the industry with specialization in digital technologies and will make the national industry more competitive and more efficient. (AU)