(epbr) Petrobras considers that it will be important to adopt qualification criteria in the auctions of areas for the installation of offshore wind farms and thus prevent the entry of companies that do not intend to carry out the projects.
“It is important to have objective criteria that separate adventurers from serious investors”, stated the company’s Executive Manager of Institutional Relations, João Paulo Madruga.
For him, it is important to limit the activities of companies that are interested in acquiring areas without the intention of actually investing to get maritime parks off the ground.
According to Madruga, these companies are not welcome in the market because they can delay investments and harm the development of the sector.
This is one of the issues discussed in PL 576/2021, reported by Zé Vitor (PL/MG), in the Chamber of Deputies. The text came from a proposal by the current president of Petrobras Jean Paul Prates and was approved by the Federal Senate.
Inspiration from oil auctions
Madruga also assesses that it is necessary for the dispute to take place over the signing bonus required when signing contracts. “It’s a simple criterion: whoever pays the most, takes it. You need a lot of resources to make this type of contribution and few companies have that,” he said.
The executive also points out that it would be interesting to have criteria similar to those used in auctions for oil and gas exploration and production areas, such as the requirement for technical and financial capacity.
Unlike the development of projects on land, on private land, offshore wind farms need a regime for contracting maritime areas of the Union, whether legal or non statutory.
.This pending issue was one of the justifications that led the Bolsonaro government to stop the supply of areas: waiting for the approval of a bill.
Cost of services worries industry
Among the topics that should be on the agenda after the approval of the bill are the spatial and temporal planning of the auction of areas for these projects and the competition criteria in the auction, in addition to the minimum study time required before entering the development phase of the projects.
According to the senior Business Development manager at TotalEnergies, Fernanda Scoponi, another issue that is starting to come up on the agenda concerns the flag rules for support vessels for these projects.
The executive also highlighted the need to seek to avoid regulatory risks to ensure the attraction of these projects. “We need clear, well-defined and constant rules,” she said.
Scoponi also stated that one of the main incentives for offshore wind power would be to hold a dedicated auction for this source with the contracting of at least 10 gigawatts (GW).
“There are studies that show that turbine suppliers need at least 1 GW (of demand) over five years to justify investing in a factory,” she pointed out.
Offshore projects are considering wind turbines with greater capacity compared to land, to take advantage of the stronger and more constant winds in marine areas.
Equinor’s head of offshore wind for Latin America, André Jacques Leite, highlighted that Brazil competes with other countries to attract investment for these projects, so it is important to have clarity on the rules quickly.
“We have a sense of urgency for this auction,” he said.
The director of Corio Generation in Brazil, Ricardo Deluca, pointed out that non statutory discussions should last six to nine months, after the approval of the bill. “If everything converges, we can have the area auction by the end of next year,” he said.
The executives recalled that these projects take seven to ten years to be developed, of which the first four years must be focused on studies.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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