For the first time, Brazil will auction areas in the ocean for wind farms, and the country's offshore energy potential reaches 697 GW — more than the entire current installed capacity.

For the first time, Brazil will auction areas in the ocean for wind farms, and the country’s offshore energy potential reaches 697 GW — more than the entire current installed capacity.

Written by Douglas Avila

Published on 23/04/2026 at 00:07

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With Law nº 15.097/2025 approved and a decree expected for the first half of 2026, Brazil will take the first concrete step towards exploring an oceanic resource that can generate more energy than all the country’s power plants combined — the offshore wind potential reaches 697 GW

Brazil has never explored wind energy in the ocean.

That is about to change.

The first auction of areas for offshore wind farms is projected for 2027, following the publication of a regulatory decree expected for the first half of 2026.

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How an offshore wind farm works

Offshore wind turbines are installed on the seabed, in areas with depths of up to 60 meters (fixed-bottom technology) or on floating structures for deeper waters.

Each modern, state-of-the-art turbine can produce between 12 and 15 MW of power.

For comparison, a typical onshore wind turbine in Brazil generates between 3 and 5 MW — up to 4 times less.

The energy produced is transmitted by submarine cables to onshore substations, where it enters the national electricity grid.

The great advantage of offshore is that ocean winds are stronger, more constant, and more predictable than on land.

This means that an offshore turbine produces energy for more hours per day than an onshore equivalent, significantly increasing the capacity factor.

697 GW — more than 3 times Brazil’s entire capacity

The number is impressive in scale: 697 gigawatts of offshore wind potential.

It’s more energy than the entire combined installed capacity of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru.

The Northeast concentrates the largest share of this potential, with constant winds and relatively shallow waters — ideal conditions for fixed-bottom foundations, which are cheaper than floating ones.

However, exploring this potential requires infrastructure that Brazil does not yet have: shipyards to manufacture submarine foundations, specialized vessels for turbine installation, and a permanent maintenance logistics chain.

Countries like the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, and China have dominated this technology for over a decade.

Brazil is entering the race late, but with natural advantages that few competitors can match.

US$ 2 billion held back awaiting the decree

The sector estimates that the first auction could unlock US$ 2 billion (R$ 11 billion) in immediate investments.

These resources are already committed by international companies that are only awaiting the definition of rules to start projects.

However, the creation of a new working group with a 270-day deadline could postpone these investments that were ready to flow in 2026.

Every month of regulatory delay is another month that Brazil remains outside a global market that moves tens of billions of dollars annually.

Brazilian coast seen from above with wind potential — The Northeast concentrates Brazil’s largest offshore wind potential, with constant winds and shallow waters favorable to fixed-bottom foundation technology

Production chain and jobs — what comes with it

The installation of offshore wind farms creates a complex industrial chain that generates skilled jobs.

It requires shipyards to manufacture concrete or steel foundations, specialized vessels with 1,000+ ton cranes to install turbines at sea, blade and tower factories that can be over 100 meters each, in addition to permanent offshore maintenance teams.

Countries that adopted offshore wind early, such as the United Kingdom, generated tens of thousands of direct jobs in the sector.

The Hull region, in northern England, transformed from a declining port city into an industrial hub for wind energy, with Siemens Gamesa factories employing thousands.

The Brazilian Northeast has the potential to replicate this model, combining abundant wind with labor and port location.

How other countries did it

The United Kingdom leads the world in offshore wind, with over 14 GW installed and targets of 50 GW by 2030.

China has surpassed Europe in annual installations and already has over 30 GW offshore.

Denmark, a pioneer, built the world’s first offshore wind farm in 1991 and today exports turbines worldwide.

All these countries started with area auctions and regulatory frameworks — exactly what Brazil is doing now with Law 15.097/2025.

Therefore, Brazil is not reinventing the wheel — it is following a proven path, 30 years late but with superior natural resources.

Engineers planning offshore wind farm — Interministerial working group has a 270-day deadline to regulate the decree that will allow Brazil’s first offshore wind auction

Caveats

The 270-day deadline for regulation may suffer delays due to political or technical issues.

Environmental issues, such as impact on marine life, bird migratory routes, and artisanal fishing, need to be evaluated in licensing studies.

The initial cost of offshore wind is significantly higher than onshore wind, although the global trend has been one of accelerated decline in recent years.

Furthermore, Brazil has no industrial experience in the sector — the entire chain will need to be built from scratch or initially imported.

Even so, with 697 GW of potential and favorable winds that blow all year round, Brazil has the natural conditions to become an offshore wind power — if it manages to regulate, auction, and build in time not to lose another decade.

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For the first time, Brazil will auction areas in the ocean for wind farms, and the country’s offshore energy potential reaches 697 GW — more than the entire current installed capacity.

With Law nº 15.097/2025 approved and a decree expected for the first half of 2026, Brazil will take the first concrete step towards exploring an oceanic resource that can generate more energy than all the country’s power plants combined — the offshore wind potential reaches 697 GW

How an offshore wind farm works

697 GW — more than 3 times Brazil’s entire capacity

US$ 2 billion held back awaiting the decree

Production chain and jobs — what comes with it

How other countries did it

Caveats

While in Brazil a 10-story building takes 2 years to complete, in China a company stacks pre-fabricated modules and raises the entire building in just 28 hours and 45 minutes.

Egypt wants to draw 10 million cubic meters of water from the Nile per day into the desert, irrigate a new agricultural frontier, and build a city where there is currently only sand.

BRICS is preparing a payment system inspired by the Brazilian PIX that will allow direct transactions between countries using national digital currencies without relying on the dollar or Western banks as intermediaries.

Ethiopia has banned gasoline and diesel cars, placed over a hundred silent electric buses on the streets of Addis Ababa, and now aims for half a million electric vehicles by 2030, all powered by Africa’s largest dam and a courage that few countries have shown.

On the coast of China, fishermen received an official reward after finding 10 foreign underwater devices capable of “stealing secrets” in just two years, showing that the silent war for the seabed has already reached the nets of those who rely on fishing.

In the South Atlantic, three isolated volcanic islands cause the wind to draw perfect spirals visible from space: a rare phenomenon called von Kármán vortex streets forms symmetrical patterns behind the peaks of the South Sandwich Islands and was recorded by the NOAA-20 satellite in 2025.

Created to cling to ships like a lamprey, the new U.S. underwater drone sleeps on the ocean floor, launches torpedoes, and recharges itself with the current.

Scientists simulated what would happen if all of Earth’s oceans evaporated — and found the same mark on Mars, suggesting that one-third of the red planet was once covered by water.

The United States wants to extract minerals from the bottom of the Pacific at a depth of 4,000 meters — the problem is that 90% of the species living there are still unnamed, and in tests, life on the seabed decreased by 37%.

Climate change should be combated by solar and wind energy — but extreme heat reduces the efficiency of panels, violent winds shut down the turbines, and extreme rainfall floods entire power plants.

On the seabed near Singapore, divers found the country’s first ancient shipwreck — the 14th-century ship carried 3.8 tons of Chinese porcelain and the largest collection of Yuan Dynasty blue and white pieces ever recovered from a shipwreck.

130 kilometers off the coast and with 260-meter-tall turbines, the world’s largest offshore wind farm is being assembled on the bottom of the North Sea — when complete, its 277 turbines will generate energy for 6 million homes in the United Kingdom.

For the first time, Brazil will auction areas in the ocean for wind farms, and the country’s offshore energy potential reaches 697 GW — more than the entire current installed capacity.

With Law nº 15.097/2025 approved and a decree expected for the first half of 2026, Brazil will take the first concrete step towards exploring an oceanic resource that can generate more energy than all the country’s power plants combined — the offshore wind potential reaches 697 GW

How an offshore wind farm works

697 GW — more than 3 times Brazil’s entire capacity

US$ 2 billion held back awaiting the decree

Production chain and jobs — what comes with it

How other countries did it

Caveats

While in Brazil a 10-story building takes 2 years to complete, in China a company stacks pre-fabricated modules and raises the entire building in just 28 hours and 45 minutes.

Egypt wants to draw 10 million cubic meters of water from the Nile per day into the desert, irrigate a new agricultural frontier, and build a city where there is currently only sand.

BRICS is preparing a payment system inspired by the Brazilian PIX that will allow direct transactions between countries using national digital currencies without relying on the dollar or Western banks as intermediaries.

Ethiopia has banned gasoline and diesel cars, placed over a hundred silent electric buses on the streets of Addis Ababa, and now aims for half a million electric vehicles by 2030, all powered by Africa’s largest dam and a courage that few countries have shown.

On the coast of China, fishermen received an official reward after finding 10 foreign underwater devices capable of “stealing secrets” in just two years, showing that the silent war for the seabed has already reached the nets of those who rely on fishing.

In the South Atlantic, three isolated volcanic islands cause the wind to draw perfect spirals visible from space: a rare phenomenon called von Kármán vortex streets forms symmetrical patterns behind the peaks of the South Sandwich Islands and was recorded by the NOAA-20 satellite in 2025.

Created to cling to ships like a lamprey, the new U.S. underwater drone sleeps on the ocean floor, launches torpedoes, and recharges itself with the current.

Climate change should be combated by solar and wind energy — but extreme heat reduces the efficiency of panels, violent winds shut down the turbines, and extreme rainfall floods entire power plants.

130 kilometers off the coast and with 260-meter-tall turbines, the world’s largest offshore wind farm is being assembled on the bottom of the North Sea — when complete, its 277 turbines will generate energy for 6 million homes in the United Kingdom.

An oil drilling company drilled 6 kilometers of rock in Colorado in just 18 days — but this time it didn’t want oil, it wanted the infinite heat that exists inside the Earth at 300 degrees Celsius.

China has just commissioned the world’s first commercial mini-nuclear reactor — it is only 14 meters tall, generates energy for 526,000 homes, and prevents 880,000 tons of CO₂ per year.

China is filling the reservoir of the world’s tallest dam — it’s 315 meters of concrete, almost the height of the Eiffel Tower, and when operational will save 3 million tons of coal per year.

Scientists simulated what would happen if all of Earth’s oceans evaporated — and found the same mark on Mars, suggesting that one-third of the red planet was once covered by water.

The United States wants to extract minerals from the bottom of the Pacific at a depth of 4,000 meters — the problem is that 90% of the species living there are still unnamed, and in tests, life on the seabed decreased by 37%.

Climate change should be combated by solar and wind energy — but extreme heat reduces the efficiency of panels, violent winds shut down the turbines, and extreme rainfall floods entire power plants.

On the seabed near Singapore, divers found the country’s first ancient shipwreck — the 14th-century ship carried 3.8 tons of Chinese porcelain and the largest collection of Yuan Dynasty blue and white pieces ever recovered from a shipwreck.

130 kilometers off the coast and with 260-meter-tall turbines, the world’s largest offshore wind farm is being assembled on the bottom of the North Sea — when complete, its 277 turbines will generate energy for 6 million homes in the United Kingdom.