Part of the Rio Capital Energy Program, the Alliance will partner with fuel retailer Petrobras Distribuidora, utility company Light, energy distribution specialist Ampla and the city’s investment agency, Rio Negócios.

Among the ideas to be investigated, the partnership will undertake feasibility studies to find out whether recharging points can be installed in Petrobras’s service stations in Rio. A pilot study using the Nissan LEAF as a taxi is already being rolled out in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Secretary of the State Department of Economic Development, Energy, Industry and Services, Julio Bueno, commented: ‘We want to make sure Rio de Janeiro will be a world’s reference in energy for the twenty-first century, repeating the vocation that Rio already has in the area of traditional energy.’