By Marta Nogueira
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 7 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run
oil company Petrobras will focus on financing
large-scale renewable energy projects and evaluating new
partnerships with energy companies in the coming years, its
chief executive said in remarks released on Tuesday.
CEO Jean Paul Prates made the comments a day after the
company announced it was evaluating seven offshore wind power
projects along the Brazilian coastline with Norway's national
energy giant Equinor .
Once completed, the wind projects would deliver a combined
generating capacity of 14.5 gigawatts, Prates said in remarks on
Monday at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.
"The two companies have the same strategy: to make the most
of the oil that we have available and we still need to use since
humanity (remains) in this transition period," he added in a
video recording of his comments.
Prates also stressed that Petrobras will "start analyzing
and financing large-scale renewable energy projects, consistent
with (the companies) respective sizes."
The proposed partnership extends a tie-up between both
companies sealed in 2018, and the potential new wind farms would
take six to 10 years to begin generating electricity.
Prates said Petrobras will study the possibility of making
the needed components for the wind projects in Brazil. Studies
detailing how the offshore wind projects will connect to
Brazil's power grid have already started, he added.
The projects would extend across the coastlines of several
northern Brazilian states, including Piaui, Ceara, Rio Grande do
Norte, as well as the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo,
and Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.
Separately, the company said it expects authorization this
month from environmental regulator Ibama for oil field
exploration projects in equatorial areas.
Prates said Petrobras and Equinor will also analyze
opportunities in the areas of carbon capture, plus hydrogen and
oil and gas production. The company said later in a statement
that a technical analysis must take place before potential costs
can be assessed.
(Reporting by Marta Nogueira; Writing by Carolina Pulice;
Editing by David Alire Garcia and David Gregorio)
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