Corio Generation unveils 5GW offshore wind pipeline off Brazil

Offshore wind developer Corio Generation is planning five wind projects in Brazilian waters with a combined capacity of more than 5GW – its first projects in the Americas.

It is developing the projects alongside Brazilian power generation company Servtec, which has previously been active in the country’s onshore wind sector.

The projects are all in an early stage of development  and are subject to Corio completing its documentation for the sites and gaining regulatory approval.

They are located off the country’s north-east, south-east and south coasts, and their capacities range from about 500MW to more than 1.2GW.

The projects are the: 1.2GW-plus Costa Nordeste wind farm off the north-eastern state of Ceara, 495MW-plus Vitoria wind farm off south-eastern state of Espirito Santo, and the 1.2GW-plus Guarita, 1.2GW-plus Cassino, and 1,1170MW-plus Rio Grande wind farms all off the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Corio and Servtec have been working together for more than 18 months to explore offshore wind opportunities in Brazil. They analysed Brazil’s marine areas and environmental and technical considerations before selecting these five sites.

Brazil recently topped a ranking of global offshore wind markets’ pipelines, with researchers at RCG identifying 97.4GW of projects under development.

The South American country’s good wind resources, abundant coastline and positive legislative signals – such as preparing a system for seabed licensing – has attracted the likes of Shell and Equinor to the market.

Jonathan Cole, CEO of Corio Generation said: “Brazil is blessed with immense wind resources along its coastline, offering a vital new source of clean, affordable and reliable energy.”

Corio, a standalone offshore wind business formed by financial services group Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, added that rising electricity demand in Brazil’s heavily populated coastal areas are driving the need for offshore wind development 

The developer has a global portfolio of more than 20GW of offshore wind projects in Europe, Asia and now the Americas. It has developments in Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Ireland and the UK.