They will assess the viability of five new sites before 2028, as well as the previously unveiled Aracatu I and II offshore wind projects under development off the coastal border of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.
The new offshore wind sites include developments at Mangara (off the coast of Piauí), Colibri (off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará) and Ibitucatu (off the coast of Ceará) in northern Brazil, as well as sites at Atobá and Ibituassu (both off the coast of Rio Grande do Sul) in the south.
Brazil’s socialist president Lula Da Silva hopes to develop renewable energy in the country and reverse years of inaction on the climate crisis under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro. After Lula’s election, the country’s wind energy association told Windpower Monthly that a first tender could take place this year.
Wind energy currently accounts for 10.9% of Brazil’s energy mix, with solar accounting for 6.9%.
Equinor and Petrobras are on a long list of developers – including Ocean Winds, Corio Generation and Shell – planning large-scale offshore wind farms off Brazil.
The country currently has 24.7GW of operational wind capacity – all of it onshore – according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly.
Equinor currently has 5.85GW of operational wind capacity in the country.
