The Brazilian government has taken the next step towards realising its plan to establish a regulatory framework that will facilitate planning and permitting offshore wind projects, as the country’s National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) approved a resolution to form an Offshore Wind Working Group (GT-EO).
The Offshore Wind Working Group, to be coordinated by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), will propose measures necessary for the regulation and effective application of the Offshore Wind Law, which was enacted in January 2025, according to a press release issued by the Brazilian government on 1 October.
GT-EO will gather representatives from 23 institutions and may also invite representatives from the private sector and civil society.
The Group will work on establishing a federal infra-legal framework that addresses regulations such as prior location definition, rules for requesting a Declaration of Prior Interference (DPI), technical and financial qualification criteria, and applicable sanctions for non-compliance.
Phased deliveries are also planned, including technical studies on the coexistence of offshore wind energy and fishing activities, navigation safety, port requirements, as well as proposals for digitising processes and the creation of a Single Offshore Area Management Portal.
The government highlighted that Brazil’s potential for offshore wind generation is estimated at over 1,200 GW, with studies indicating that in coastal areas with water depths of up to 50 meters and winds at 100 metres high, there are 697 GW of usable capacity.
Currently, Brazil’s Institute for the Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA) is analysing 104 environmental licensing requests for offshore wind projects. Earlier this year, IBAMA awarded the country’s first preliminary investigation licence for an offshore wind project to a pilot offshore wind farm being developed by the SENAI Institute of Innovation in Renewable Energy (ISI-ER).
The government says that, according to estimates from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the development and expansion of offshore wind in Brazil could generate up to 516,000 full-time jobs by 2050 and add approximately BRL 902 billion (around EUR 145 billion) to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the same period.