Brazil president Lula signs law authorizing offshore wind power development

Brazil also has considerable experience with wind energy. It ranked sixth for onshore wind installed capacity in the 2023 Global Wind Energy Report and was third for most new wind power plants.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has signed into law a bill authorizing the development of offshore wind farms, a statement said late on Friday, a bid to strengthen the country’s energy security and spark a wave of investment.
The new law foresees incentives for the development of offshore wind energy projects in Brazilian territorial waters, the statement said.
Offshore wind speeds tend to be faster and steadier than on land, a potential advantage compared with wind farms built in a continent.
The Brazilian government said the law provides guidelines for wind power projects and restoration of explored areas, in addition to requiring prior consultations with affected communities to ensure “respect for traditional maritime practices and local culture.”
More than 80% of Brazil’s electricity comes from renewable sources, mainly hydroelectric, according to government data.
The president vetoed provisions in the law, introduced during the congressional debate, which would maintain incentives for “more polluting, expensive and inefficient energy sources such as thermoelectric, coal and gas plants,” the statement said.
And although detractors may claim that wind farms are a threat to bird populations, research doesn’t back that up. A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that the number of birds killed by wind turbines annually is a fraction of those killed in other ways, such as by house cats, by power lines, or by flying into buildings. And, per gigawatt-hour of electricity produced, fossil fuels are nearly 20 times more deadly than wind power.