Brazil Takes Major Step Towards Developing Offshore Wind Potential

The Government of Brazil has issued a Decree which enables the identification and assignment of physical spaces and national resources within the country’s inland waters, the territorial sea, the offshore exclusive economic zone, and the continental shelf for the development of offshore wind projects.

The Decree NO. 10,946 will enable the implementation of the necessary offshore studies and the identification of areas suitable for the development of offshore wind projects.

Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy will be in charge of carrying out the necessary studies, selecting the offshore wind zones, as well as organizing subsequent auctions.

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has welcomed the publication of the Decree, saying that it creates the regulatory and legal basis for the development of Brazil’s promising offshore wind sector.

”Brazil has virtually unlimited offshore wind resources and wind energy companies have already presented applications for licensing for 40GW of offshore wind projects in Brazil, representing a unique opportunity to meet growing power demand, develop green hydrogen projects and create vast amounts of investment and skilled jobs,” said GWEC CEO Ben Backwell.

”This decree provides the clarity and the certainty that the wind industry needs to move ahead and continue to develop large scale projects off the coast of Brazil, while the authorities prepare a full system for licensing areas, as well as competitive auctions and other mechanisms for offtake of power from offshore wind. We congratulate Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerqe, the team at the Ministry and our partners at ABBEEOLICA on this vital achievement.”

GWEC added that it has been working closely with Brazilian wind energy association ABEEOLICA to help provide necessary input and experiences from international wind markets, in a productive discussion with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and other key stakeholders.

GWEC’s Ocean Energy Pathways programme is helping governments around the world to achieve a rapid adoption of offshore wind.

ABEEOLICA CEO Elbia Gannoum, said: ”Wind Energy already has a long successful history in Brazil onshore, and now, with this decree, we start a new phase with offshore wind. I have no doubt that, in a some short years’ time, we will be celebrating our first GWs of wind energy in the Brazilian seas, and that Brazil, which has some of the best winds in the world for onshore, will be also known for the success of offshore wind – one of the most essential in the world’s struggle to limit dangerous climate change.”

This Decree will come into force on 15 June.

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