UK-based offshore wind developer Corio Generation partners with Brazilian shipyard and marine construction company Estaleiros do Brasil (EBR) to target Brazil’s offshore wind market.
The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore how EBR’s shipyard and construction facilities could support future offshore wind projects off Brazil’s south coast.
The duo is expected to look at how EBR’s existing infrastructure, located close to Rio Grande port in Brazil’s southern province of Rio Grande do Sul, could support the deployment of two windfarms planned for the south of the country: Cassino Offshore Wind and Rio Grande Offshore Wind, both with a 1,200+ MW.
The potential to enter commercial negotiations to reserve part of an area used to facilitate the projects is also set to be explored.
Corio – a portfolio company of Macquarie Asset Management operating on a standalone basis – aims to develop five offshore wind farms in Brazil, totalling up to 6 GW, as part of its significant global portfolio of projects across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe.
Four of these projects, totalling approximately 4.8 GW, are located off the southern and south-eastern coastlines of the country.
Ricardo de Luca, country director of Brazil at Corio Generation, said: “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.”
“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. We are sure that EBR can be an excellent partner for Corio and make an important contribution to the development of offshore wind in Brazil,” noted Wataru Nosaka, chief executive officer of EBR.
