Brazil approves regulatory framework for offshore wind energy exploration

The Infrastructure Services Commission (CI) of the Senate approved today (17) the draft regulatory framework for the exploration of offshore wind energy in Brazil. This energy can be wind, solar or even generated by the force of the tides. The regulatory framework provides legal security for the country to take advantage of the offshore energy potential, that is, present in the sea.

The approved proposal establishes the granting of the right to use Union assets to private companies for the generation of energy or the granting prior authorization. The rule applies to companies located off the Brazilian coast, such as the territorial sea, the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“[The project] stands out in the sense of allowing this new immediate investment horizon, which is that of offshore wind energy, that is, the generation of energy from the wind within the sea, in the Brazilian sea. And for that we needed a legal framework, because it is a whole set of public goods in which total legal certainty is needed for investors to make their vast investments”, said the author of the project, Senator Jean Paul Prates (PT-RN) .

Prates also highlighted that, although the project contemplates the exploitation of wind energy in the near future, the text contemplates any form of energy production, even those that are still unknown. “This project is not limited to wind energy in the sea, it deals with the ownership of the territorial sea, continental shelf, exclusive economic zone and other internal water bodies, including: lagoons, lakes, water mirrors, for the use of the energy generation . I usually say that this project is prepared for anything that is still invented using the force of the sea, the waves, the wind in the sea”.

The project’s rapporteur, Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ), made modifications to the project before presenting it to the commission. The bill was definitively approved, that is, it does not need to go through the full Senate. This will only happen if a senator presents an analysis resource in plenary. Otherwise, it goes directly to the analysis of the Chamber. According to Portinho, “specific adjustments were made to the project” to resolve what he called “misinterpretations of the devices.”