Petrobras to install two offshore wind turbines with R&D funds by 2029

(epbr) “We want to install two wind turbines to gain experience, analyze, prepare,” Tolmasquim told journalists during an event this Tuesday.

The company has already started conversations with the Union Heritage Secretariat (SPU) for access to the areas. In the case of the Southeast, the location selected for the R&D project is close to Porto do Açu (RJ) and coincides with one of the areas in which Petrobras began licensing with Ibama to develop these projects.

The director explained that the company intends to talk to suppliers to bring the largest turbine available to the country for testing. The amount allocated to this project will come from the R&D funds foreseen in the state-owned company’s business plan.

Petrobras’ 2024-2028 investment plan, announced in November last year, foresees US$3.6 billion for research, development and innovation over five years

In total, Petrobras has requests from Ibama to license the development of 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind farms on the Brazilian coast, around 7GW of which are part of a partnership with Equinor.

According to Tolmasquim, the company began processing four commercial projects in internal governance areas to speed up analyzes to participate in the auction. Two projects are in areas in the Northeast, one in the Southeast and one in the South.

“We want to participate in the first auction for the transfer of areas, but to do so it is necessary to have a study, a preliminary analysis, so that when the auction takes place we are prepared”, he stated.

During his participation in the event, Tolmasquim highlighted that he believes that the legal framework for the sector being processed in the Senate is “reasonable”, but criticized the amendments added to the bill that do not address the issue of offshore wind farms.

“This is quite regrettable and is what is preventing us from having a regulatory framework for this sector in Brazil,” he said.

According to the director, other challenges for the development of offshore wind generation projects in Brazil are the lack of maritime spatial planning and transmission network planning to accommodate the new projects. Furthermore, the director also cited environmental licensing and port infrastructure as issues that will require adaptations for the projects to move forward.

“The main challenge is knowing what the business model is and, if it depends on some government policy, we will have to have that policy,” he said.

The supply chain is another point of concern. “A lot of things will have to come from abroad, but others will have to be done here too,” he said.

Source: epbr https://epbr.com.br/petrobras-vai-instalar-duas-turbinas-eolicas-offshore-com-verbas-de-pd-ate-2029/