The project aims to test the offshore wind technology under real operating conditions to gather data that would serve future offshore wind projects in Brazil.
This involves analysing the performance of offshore wind equipment in conditions of the Brazilian equatorial sea, including safety and function, power performance, mechanical loads, noise, voltage support and sag, and power quality, according to SENAI ISI-ER.
The updates on the project were presented by the director of ISI-ER and its regional department SENAI-RN, Rodrigo Mello, at the Brazil Offshore Wind Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 26 and 27 March.
“We are in a very mature phase regarding the project. We are going to conclude the environmental impact documentation this semester, and we hope that next semester we will have the license in hand from Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), with whom we have been in permanent discussions about the process,” Rodrigo Mello said.
Work is underway on determining the foundation type and the wind turbine model, as well as on financing the research project.
“The expectation is that, once the environmental licensing process is concluded, these other processes will also be mature,” Mello said, adding that the project timeline depends on these activities.
According to the director of SENAI, besides the pilot project in Rio Grande do Norte, there is a discussion on another, deepwater pilot project in Rio de Janeiro, that would involve different technologies.
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