Brazil To Finalize Wind, Hydrogen Framework By Year’s End

Despite Petrobras hoping to be the last oil producer standing amid the energy transition, Brazil is looking to pass regulations for its offshore wind and green hydrogen industries by the end of this year, Brazil’s energy minister said on Tuesday.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has voiced support for the energy transition, promising to keep that as a focus of this administration. Meanwhile, Petrobras CEO Jean Paul Prates said in a Bloomberg interview back in March that the company could be the last man standing when it comes to crude oil production amid the energy transition, adding that “we will get market share”. 

But Prates also said in March that Petrobras must be ready for the “unavoidable” energy transition—and that Petrobras wanted to be a significant part of the energy transition process.

One of the ways Petrobras intends to be part of the energy transition—beyond being the last man standing when it comes to oil production—is getting into offshore wind power generation, which Petrobras argues isn’t a huge leap, considering it already has deepwater experience when it comes to oil.

The size of Brazil’s wind aspirations is significant. Brazilian Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira said this week that there is an auction coming up just for the transmission lines that would transport solar and onshore wind energy from one part of the country to another that has the potential to bring in more than $40 billion in investments.

But the country doesn’t have any regulations yet for the wind or green hydrogen industries.

In other Brazilian energy news, Petrobras won its Supreme Court appeal this week against a case over salary remuneration that will keep it from having to pay nearly $4 billion in salary corrections.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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