The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) has granted the first preliminary license for an offshore wind energy project in Brazil.
The license was awarded to the Senai Institute for Innovation in Renewable Energy for the offshore wind turbine test site set to be implemented on the coast of Areia Branca, in Rio Grande do Norte.
The project foresees the installation of the plant 20 km off the coast. The site will include two wind turbines, with an installed capacity of up to 24.5MW.
According to Senai, this will test the performance of offshore wind generation equipment in the Brazilian equatorial sea. The institute plans to launch a “multi-client notice” for companies that want to get involved in the project later this year.
There are currently 104 offshore wind projects with licensing requests from IBAMA, totalling 247.3GW of capacity. Only three of these are for pilot projects – one from Senai in Rio Grande do Norte, and two others in Rio de Janeiro from Petrobras and the state government. Rio Grande do Norte has 14 requests at the Institute for projects totalling 25.4GW.
The preliminary license represents a significant institutional milestone as it is the first federal environmental license for an offshore wind test site in Brazil, consolidating IBAMA’s role as a central body in the environmental regulation of strategic projects for the national energy transition.
“[The issuance] is an opportunity for us to generate knowledge and information about a sector that could take off in the coming years,” said IBAMA’s Claudia Barros.
