Macquarie Asset Management-backed Corio Generation has teamed up with Brazilian shipyard and marine construction company Estaleiros do Brasil (EBR) to target Brazil’s offshore wind market.
The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore how EBR’s facilities could support future offshore wind projects off Brazil’s south coast.
Corio aims to develop five wind farms, 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 about 4.8 GW, are located off the southern and south-eastern coastlines of Brazil.
Corio said the EBR shipyard has extensive facilities for building floating platforms for the oil and gas industry which could be adapted and used for the construction of offshore wind farms.
“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,” Corio country director of Brazil Ricardo de Luca said.
“That journey will require the development of suitable port infrastructure, for building and then maintaining Brazil’s offshore wind farms.”
EBR chief executive Wataru Nosaka said 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.
The shipyard is part of the TSE group and can process about 30,000 tonnes of topsides modules per year, with large-scale industrial workshops and a large external assembly area with high load capacity.
“With a pier of 530 metres and a draft depth of 12 metres, the shipyard can perform construction and integration services for FPSO-type platforms, in addition to offering docking and lay-up services for other types of units, as well as load-in and load-out operations of large modules,” Corio said.
Corio said the advancement of offshore wind in southern Brazil has the potential to not only support increased generation of clean, renewable energy but also stimulate investment in regions such as Rio Grande do Sul that have been severely impacted by intense flooding in recent months.
Earlier this year, Corio said it was looking to use the Port of Acu, one of the largest deepwater and private industrial port complexes in Latin America, for its offshore wind projects in Brazil.
In April 2024, it signed a memorandum of understanding with domestic port developer Prumo to explore using the port, north of Rio de Janeiro.
The MoU will see the two companies explore using the port as a strategic base for Corio’s offshore wind deployment, involving the potential reservation of an area dedicated to wind farm installation, operation and maintenance.
Corio has previously stated that Brazil has all the physical conditions to become a leader in offshore wind.
