When in October 2022 we published about the offshore energy potential in Brazil there was only reference to the companies Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell with licensing requests to install wind farms in the areas of their blocks, considering that bill 576/2021 proposes priority to current oil and gas operators. And note that in advance of the approval of the law, that is, signaling that the risk is worth it, considering the potential and opportunity.
Wind generation and solar have already surpassed traditional sources in various parts of the world.
It is good to see that a few days ago Petrobras signed a letter of intent with one of those companies, Equinor, to assess the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of seven offshore wind energy generation projects on the Brazilian coast, with the potential to generate up to 14.5 GW. Equivalent to one Itaipú. Click on the image below to view the press release.
After the announcement, however, some contrary reactions, such as the one published in the Brazil Journal in which, according to a financial analyst, the "three reasons for Petrobras to steer clear of off-shore wind" would be:
"Brazil does not need (neither today nor in the near future) offshore wind farms"
"Offshore wind farms can demand vast subsidies to be viable and the country should not pay for that"
"There are much cheaper ways to make the energy transition, including buying renewable companies"
More than 1 year ago, in September 2021, this blog published the article "Racing Cars Are About to Start Running on Wine Dregs (TotalEnergies)". Interesting title, isn't it? But it is worth remembering two points from then:
The French oil giant had then just renamed itself as TotalEnergies, adopting the banner of new energy sources, future
Started the development of a new 100% renewable fuel, bioethanol, produced from waste from the wine industry, innovating
Increasingly, in addition to renewable sources, new technologies, "patent tsunami", digitization, CCS and hydrogen are gaining more prominence.
On the path of energy transition, may more good choices and quick positionings come from Petrobras and its big sisters from Big Oil.
