- Ocean Winds (OW), the offshore wind joint-venture between EDPR and ENGIE, announces the official launch of OW Brasil, its fully owned Brazilian company (previously called “Ventos de Atlântico”).
- OW is targeting offshore wind capacities through undergoing authorizations at IBAMA, for projects located in Rio de Janeiro, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Rio Grande do Sul states.
June 14, 2022 – Brazil. Ocean Winds, the 50-50 joint-venture between global energy leaders ENGIE and EDP Renewables dedicated to offshore wind, announces the launch of OW Brazil, fully owned Brazilian company working on development opportunities of offshore wind projects in the country.
Highly interested by the incredible potential of 700 GW for offshore wind in Brazil (according to a study by the Energy Research Company EPE), OW started in December 2020 to license five new offshore wind projects for a total capacity of 15 GW in the States of Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio de Janeiro, and Rio Grande do Sul.
Bautista Rodríguez, CEO of OW Ocean Winds, said: “With a 11.2 GW portfolio of projects in seven countries, OW positioned itself as a pioneer leader in the offshore wind sector and aims at expanding its footprint. OW performs a strict market analysis and selection to ensure only countries with strong fundamentals are selected, and since 2020 Brazil shows a high potential for offshore wind projects. This is reinforced by the latest steps taken in the right direction for regulatory framework for offshore wind development in the country”.
On the importance of these offshore wind projects for Brazil, Bautista Rodríguez stated “The development of this new sector of activity in Brazil is an important opportunity to meet the growing demand for energy, develop green hydrogen projects, diversify the energy matrix, and thus ensure the country’s energy security with a renewable source that has a competitive cost for the consumer compared to fossil sources.”
Counting with the support of its sponsors (ENGIE being the second largest private-sector power company in Brazil and EDPR with 795 MW of wind and solar installed capacity in the country), OW is seeking authorizations for “Licença Prévia” (Environmental Permit) at IBAMA for the following projects: Vento Tupi (1 GW), Maral (2 GW), Ventos do Atlântico (5 GW), Tramandaí offshore (700 MW), and Ventos do Sul (6.5 GW).
Ocean Winds will be present at the GWEC Brazil Offshore Wind Summit on June 14th.
