Petrobras' offshore wind generation pilot plant project was associated with the Ubarana field, in Rio Grande do Norte

Petrobras decided to suspend the pilot project for offshore wind power generation in Campo de Ubarana, located in the Potiguar Basin, on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte. Petrobras begins the sale of Petrobras Biocombustível.

Read also

• Works in Porto São Mateus authorized with 750 jobs initially expected to start in 2020
• Company of the Eletrobras group will invest 1 billion reais in hydroelectric plants in Bahia
• Fisherman who discovered one of the biggest oil wells in the world died poor and unrecognized

The news was given during a webinar promoted by EPBR, last Friday (3/7), by Viviana Coelho, manager of Emissions and Climate Change at Petrobras.

The state-owned offshore wind project would be built about 20 km off the coast of Guamaré, in the Ubarana field. However, the plant went into hibernation at the end of March, along with other shallow water assets in the Northeast and Campos Basin.

In the pilot project, a tower and a wind turbine would be installed, in addition to other equipment to measure the potential for offshore wind energy generation. The project would be located 20 km from the coast of Grumaré, with an LDA (water depth) of 12 to 16 meters.

According to Viviana, the demonstration plant in the Northeast lost its meaning in the region “at the moment we took the strategic decision to concentrate our upstream assets in the Southeast”. Offshore wind would be integrated into the Ubarana asset.

Despite the news, Viviana said that Petrobras remains interested in the activity, and that, in the future, the state-owned company may become “a world-class player” in offshore wind.

The company has opted out of the renewable energy sectors, both in terms of suspending the aforementioned project and also in the area of ​​biofuels.

Last month, the state-owned company began the binding phase of the divestment process in the companies Eólica Mangue Seco 3 and Eólica Mangue Seco 4, owners of wind power generation plants in Guamaré.

Offshore liquefaction units

Petrobras is considering installing liquefaction units on the high seas to dispose of the growing pre-salt natural gas production, said the company's Emissions and Climate Change manager, Viviana Coelho, in a webinar this Friday.

According to her, LNG units can be an alternative to natural gas associated with pre-salt oil production.

It was unclear whether the show has a timeline. Currently, Petrobras depends on offshore pipelines to transport natural gas to the coast, where it is processed.

On the sale of Petrobras refineries questioned by the Federal Congress