Petrobras assumed the position of the largest developer of wind projects in the country, in another fundamental step towards the energy transition. An advance that is due to the partnership with WEG, signed this month, to develop the largest onshore wind turbine in Brazil, with a potential of 7 MW – enough to supply a city of 16,880 inhabitants alone. In parallel, it holds, among Brazilian companies, the greatest potential for offshore wind energy in a capacity registered by Ibama. This is because it sent to the environmental agency, in September, a request to facilitate the environmental licensing of ten maritime areas in the Northeast (seven areas), Southeast (two) and South (one) regions, which have a total capacity of 23 GW.
The wind turbine is already under development by WEG and should begin mass production in 2025. With investments of R$130 million, the equipment will be essential for Petrobras to increase its knowledge in wind technology. These were some of the highlights presented by the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, during the opening lecture of the XI Seminar on Brazilian Energy Matrix and Security at the headquarters of Fundação Getúlio Vargas, in Rio de Janeiro .
The company is betting on partnerships as one of the ways to make the energy transition viable. “Our purpose is to launch the development of renewable energy in the country, joining forces with the main global and national players. We will share our knowledge in offshore scenarios, completely familiar to us, learning what we still need to develop. Furthermore, we will allocate up to 15% of our total investments to low-carbon projects in the next Strategic Plan for the period from 2024 to 2028”, said Prates.
“For an oil company, the energy transition means metamorphosing, transforming into something else. This requires extensive planning, reflection, preparation and at the same time continuing to deliver value to both shareholders and society, as is the case with a state-owned company like Petrobras”, he added.
New energy sources
The director of Energy Transition and Sustainability at Petrobras, Maurício Tolmasquim, participated in the panel “Energy Transition and Carbon Market”. Tolmasquim gave an overview of the current global situation that motivated the company to move towards decarbonization. “The fact today is that there are 128 countries that account for 88% of global emissions and 92% of global GDP, which have decarbonization targets. At different speeds and formats, these countries are adopting a series of policies, including tougher ones, to reduce emissions, for example, in the area of transport, which is central to the oil sector. There are countries that simply intend to ban the sale of carbureted vehicles and others that are creating laws to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles. The International Energy Agency’s projection, if the Paris target is met, is that there will be a drop in oil demand of around 40%. There is also the fact that the main financiers/investors in the sector are adopting more restrictive policies and they have assets worth around 6 trillion Euros, this is a fact”, commented Tolmasquim.
The executive made a point of highlighting Petrobras’ measures in the face of the challenges of reducing emissions. “Petrobras will continue to be essentially an oil company, we understand that there is room for a world with less oil and we will adapt to continue to exist as the main company in Brazil. There are activities that have enormous synergy with our offshore activities, which is offshore wind and we are positioning ourselves in this area. Brazil has a huge coastal area and Petrobras is the company that currently has the most offshore wind projects registered with Ibama, around 14GW. Another action that has a lot to do with us is the production of biofuels, such as diesel-R, for road transport, marine fuel, which will immediately contain around 10% renewable fuel and is expected to grow; there is also green ammonia, which should be destined for rail transport; and the big one, which is renewable aviation fuel, which all companies need and have no one to produce. We are also keeping an eye on the petrochemical area, which we should enter together with partners”, he concluded.
Leave a Reply