Corio eyes Brazil offshore wind hub for gigascale project plans
Developer signs MoU with marine construction group EBR to evaluate yard near southern city of Rio Grande
Corio Generation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Brazilian marine construction group Estaleiros do Brasil (EBR) aimed at assessing the suitability of the latter's main shipyard as a potential hub for offshore wind.
The EBR facility is located near the southern Brazilian port city of Rio Grande and has already served as a base for the integration of big floating production units for oil and gas projects.
Owned by Australia's Macquarie Asset Management, Corio is currently analysing prospects for the development of up to 6GW of offshore wind capacity in Brazil, including up to 4.8GW in the south of the country.
Spatial planning work is currently taking place off southern Brazil, but Corio said it has already set out plans to develop two wind farms — Cassino Offshore Wind (1.2GW) and Rio Grande Offshore Wind (1.2GW) — with the potential to enter commercial negotiations and reserve part of an area used to facilitate the projects.
The EBR shipyard covers an area of approximately 1.7 million square metres which “with expertise could be adapted and utilised for the construction of offshore wind farms,” Corio stated.
“With its long coastline and favourable sea conditions, Brazil has incredible potential to harness the power of offshore wind and build a future based on clean, green energy and a prosperous low-carbon economy,” said Ricardo de Luca, country director of Brazil at Corio Generation.
“That journey will require the development of suitable port infrastructure, for building and then maintaining Brazil’s offshore wind farms, so we very much look forward to working with Estaleiros do Brasil and exploring how their shipyard and their engineering expertise could help establish a hub for future wind farm development in southern Brazil and drive the growth of the offshore wind sector more widely.”
EBR is owned by Toyo Seal a joint venture between Brazilian industrial group Setal and Japan's Toyo Engineering group.
Wataru Nosaka, CEO of EBR, added: “There is a lot of synergy between offshore wind projects and the oil and gas industry in areas such as operations, maintenance, logistics and port infrastructure.”
Corio is developing its proposed portfolio of fixed-bottom offshore wind projects in Brazil with Servtec, a power generation company that played a major role in the establishment of the country’s onshore wind industry.
The MoU covered the potential reservation of a dedicated area for future wind farm installation, operation and maintenance.
However, developers have been forced to endure a long and unpredictable wait for lawmakers to approve a proposed regulatory framework for offshore wind in the country.
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