Petrobras and Equinor to evaluate seven offshore wind projects in Brazil
Petrobras and Equinor
have signed a letter of intent that expands the cooperation between the
two companies to assess seven offshore wind power generation projects.
The
letter of intent expands the cooperation between the two companies to assess
the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of seven offshore
wind power generation projects off the Brazilian coast with the potential
to generate up to 14.5 GW. With these studies, the expectation is to advance
in the country's energy transition projects.
“Equinor
and Petrobras have a long history of successful partnership. We are happy
to expand our collaboration to renewables, enabling a broad energy offering
in Brazil. Together we are actively engaging to contribute to the realization
of offshore wind and Brazil’s energy transition, by creating the necessary
initial conditions for renewables energy to develop in a sustainable way,”
says Anders Opedal, CEO in Equinor.
“This
agreement will pave the way for a new frontier of clean and renewable energy
in Brazil, taking advantage of our country's significant offshore wind
potential and boosting our trajectory towards the energy transition. We
will combine our world-renowned offshore technological innovation capacity
and our experience in the Brazilian electricity generation market with
Equinor's expertise in offshore wind projects in several countries. It
is worth mentioning, however, that the phase is for studies and the allocation
of investments depends on in-depth analyzes to assess their viability,
in addition to regulatory advances that will allow the authorization processes
for the activities, to be carried out by the Union”, said Petrobras president
and CEO Jean Paul Prates.
The
agreement is the result of the partnership signed between Petrobras and
Equinor in 2018 – and had its scope expanded beyond the two wind farm
opportunities - Aracatu I and II (located on the coastal border between
the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo), initially planned.
In
addition to these two projects, the new agreement provides for an assessment
of the viability of wind farms Mangara (on the coast of Piauí); Ibitucatu
(coast of Ceará); Colibri (on the coastal border between Rio Grande do
Norte and Ceará); besides Atobá and Ibituassu (both on the coast of Rio
Grande do Sul) – in a total of seven projects, effective until 2028.
Equinor
has conducted business in Brazil since 2001, and the country is considered
one of the core areas for Equinor. Equinor has a solid and diversified
oil & gas portfolio in Brazil, with licenses both under development
and in production such as Bacalhau, in Santos basin, and Peregrino, in
Campos basin.
Within
renewables, Equinor is owner in the Apodi Solar plant (162 MW) operated
by Scatec. The plant started production in 2018. In 2022, construction
work started in the Mendubim solar project (531 MW) realized in partnership
with Scatec and Hydro Rein and planned to come in production in 2024.
Petrobras'
profitable portfolio diversification initiative will contribute to the
success of the energy transition and is added to the plan to reduce operational
emissions of greenhouse gases.
The
company reiterates its goal of achieving short-term targets and its ambition
to neutralize emissions in activities under its control by 2050 – as well
as influencing partners in non-operated assets. In Petrobras' Strategic
Plan for the period from 2023 to 2027, offshore wind is one of the priority
segments for in-depth studies.
The
Brazilian potential for offshore wind power generation brings promising
opportunities for diversifying the country's energy matrix. Offshore wind
generation technology uses the strength of winds at sea to produce renewable
energy.