French supermajor TotalEnergies has teamed up with Brazilian state oil and gas group Petrobras and Casa dos Ventos to explore potential green energy projects in the South American nation.
TotalEnergies announced today (Friday) that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Petrobras and a joint venture company it had previously formed with major Brazilian renewables developer Casa dos Ventos.
The companies will look at investment and offtake opportunities in onshore wind, offshore wind, solar and low-carbon hydrogen in Brazil.
TotalEnergies that each company brings its “distinct skills” to the partnership.
Casa dos Ventos Holding, the JV formed by TotalEnergies and Casa dos Ventos, is “the leader of wind and solar energy in Brazil with a 12GW portfolio to be developed in the coming years.” Petrobras is the “largest Brazilian energy company” and holds considerable technical expertise, while TotalEnergies brings its “global multi-energy know-how”.
The agreement was signed in the headquarters of Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro by the presidents of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, and Casa dos Ventos, Mario Araripe.
The agreement will run for two years, after which the companies can decide whether to enter new binding partnerships.
“Brazil is a great country for developing renewable energies. We are therefore delighted to join forces with Casa dos Ventos and Petrobras to identify potential synergies between our activities, and thus develop profitable renewables opportunities”, said Pouyanné.
TotalEnergies has been operating in Brazil for almost 50 years and today employs more than 3,500 people in the country. It has worked with Petrobras on several other projects previously.
TotalEnergies moved into Brazil’s green power sector in 2022 with a deal worth almost $600m to create its JV with Casa dos Ventos. TotalEnergies holds a 34% stake in that venture.
Petrobras has separately this week unveiled plans for 23GW more potential offshore wind – including a floating project off Rio de Janeiro – as it set out its stall to be the nation’s biggest player in wind at sea.
