Brazil oil & gas and marine news highlights from DIT
01 July 2021
The following has been collated and circulated by the Department of International Trade (DIT).
Offshore wind power company Ocean Winds (OW), an Engie and EDP Joint-Venture, plans to develop a 2-GW project off the coast of Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte state. The local government held a meeting with OW's officials in which the project was highlighted. It will require investments of between £ 3 billion and £ 4 billion. [Renewables Now]
Offshore wind power company Ocean Winds (OW), an Engie and EDP Joint-Venture, plans to develop a 2-GW project off the coast of Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte state. The local government held a meeting with OW's officials in which the project was highlighted. It will require investments of between £ 3 billion and £ 4 billion. [Renewables Now]
Chamber Of Deputies Authorizes Eletrobras Sale - With the support of the government, the Lower Chamber approved on June 21 most of the Senate amendments to Provisional Measure 1031/2021, the so-called Eletrobras MP, extending the additions that had been made in May by the House itself. The government’s goal is to make the capitalization at the end of this year or the beginning of 2022. [Brasil Energy]
US-based Energea Global said that it has received a funding commitment of £ 45 million from a London-based private equity firm to co-invest in distributed generation (DG) solar projects across Brazil. VH Global Energy Opportunities PLC (GSEO), an investment trust advised by Victory Hill Capital Advisers LLP, will support 18 identified ready-to-build solar projects located across ten Brazilian states [BNAmericas]
Brazilian telecom Claro SA announced last week it has connected to the grid the largest distributed generation (DG) biogas plant in the country, able to produce up to 4.65 average megawatts (MWa). The facility consists of a set of four engines that are connected to the Nova Iguaçu (Rio de Janeiro) municipal landfill. Biogas will be generated from methane gas (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) released by organic waste decomposing in the landfill. [BNAmericas]
Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems A/S has received a 348-MW order for an unspecified project in Brazil. The name of the project and its owner were kept under wraps upon the customer’s request, Vestas said in a press release on June 16. Under the deal, Vestas will supply 81 turbines of its V150-4.2 MW model, delivered in 4.3 MW power optimised mode. The agreement also includes a five-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) service contract. [Renewables Now]
For the seventh consecutive year, investments in renewable energy capacity have grown in Brazil, according to REN21’s Renewables Global Status Report 2020 released this month. Of the total invested in 2020 globally in renewables (excluding large hydro), about US$ 303.5 billion, Brazil accounted for 2.9%, or US$ 8.7 billion. This represented, for the report, a 23% increase in Brazilian investments over 2019 (US$ 7.1 billion), well above the global percentage of 2% increase over that invested in the year prior to the period. [Brasil Energy]
Brazilian utility company Neoenergia SA announced that it will take part in a green hydrogen pilot project to be set in Brazil's Pernambuco state. The Pernambuco state government and the energy company signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on developing the project within the state's Suape Port - Governor Eraldo Gueiros Industrial Complex. [Renewables Now]
Brazilian solar developer Lisarb Energy has signed 15-year lease contracts for 20 MW of new solar parks with local sugar and ethanol producer Raizen. Lisarb said that it plans to invest £ 14.3 million to develop four new 5-MW photovoltaic (PV) projects. Two of them are to be located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, one in Goias and one in the country's Federal District. [Renewables Now]
Brazilian lender Itaú Unibanco will allocate £ 57.3 billion to finance projects that have a positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact by 2025. The sector focus will be on renewable energy (solar, wind and small hydroelectric power plants), energy services, health and education, infrastructure (including rail transport and sanitation), pulp and paper, and agribusiness (mainly sugar and ethanol firms and cooperatives). [BNAmericas]
Mitsubishi power ships JAC gas turbine to Brazil, Marlim Azul Project will be the most fuel-efficient gas turbine power plant in South America: Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. has shipped an M501JAC gas turbine to Marlim Azul Energia’s power plant in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, which will become the most fuel-efficient power plant in South America when it begins operation in January 2023. The plant was the winning project at Brazil’s gas-based energy auctions and will be the first in Brazil to use associated gas from Brazil’s Pre-Salt basin. The gas turbine’s exceptional operational flexibility will enable Marlim Azul to complement intermittent wind and solar power generation and to efficiently convert domestic pre-salt gas into electricity with attractive prices for consumers. This gas turbine is capable of using up to 30% hydrogen fuel and can be upgraded to use 100% hydrogen fuel to meet the plant’s future decarbonization needs. [Business Wire]
Ceará will receive the first green hydrogen HUB in Brazil: The State of Ceará will implement the first green hydrogen (H2V) HUB in Brazil, aiming to be a global player in the production, storage, distribution and export of green hydrogen, which is considered a key element for the decarbonization of the global energy system . Information about this project was presented during the BW Talks Green Hydrogen HUB – Ceará, promoted by the BW Movement, an initiative of the Brazilian Association of Technology for Construction and Mining (Sobratema), on June 2nd. The HUB in Ceará has the potential to be one of the largest green hydrogen players in the world, competing with other countries, which have also started to implement their HUBs, such as Japan, the United States, Portugal and the Netherlands. [T&B Petroleum]
Omega Energia and IBM use artificial intelligence and cloud to predict renewable energy generation in real time: The leading company in renewable energy in Brazil and IBM created a platform to improve the forecast of renewable energy generation with the use of artificial intelligence and analysis of geospatial and meteorological data, hosted in the IBM cloud. To date, IBM has seen a 30% to 40% improvement in the accuracy of global predictions against business models. The platform uses machine learning in various forecasting and observation models that, ultimately, provide accurate information, such as wind speed and direction, up to 10 days in advance, positively impacting the Company's strategic operating decisions. Omega Energia aims to more accurately forecast the wind and solar energy generation in its portfolio with the help of IBM intelligence. [T&B Petroleum]
