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Petrobras has invested BRL 60 million in a new sea wind testing and measuring phase by releasing new BRAVO buoy units to collect, monitor, and assess offshore wind resources.
Bravo is a floating Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) model developed with national technology for the first time. It is an optical sensor that uses laser beams to measure wind speed and direction, generating data compatible with the wind turbine operation environment.
It can also record weather variables like atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and relative humidity, including oceanographic variables like waves and sea currents. All those data are essential to determine the potential of a wind energy production area.
The equipment weighs seven tons, measures four meters in diameter and four meters in height, and has an energy system powered by photovoltaic solar energy modules.
The technology, designed in an unprecedented way for the Brazilian sea, is the outcome of a successful R&D I project by the Petrobras Center for Research, Development, and Innovation (Cenpes) in partnership with the SENAI Institute of Renewable Energy Innovation (ISI-ER), and the SENAI Institute of Onboard System Innovation (ISI-SE).
The first five new units will start operating in December, while the others will be in late 2025, resuming the projects that began with the pioneering Bravo unit, which has just completed one year of nonstop wind measuring operations in the Areia Branca Sea on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte.
Petrobras invested BRL 11.3 million in the first BRAVO version through the Research and Technological Development Program for the Electric Power Sector regulated by the National Electric Power Agency (ANEEL). Phase two of measurements will receive funds allotted to the RD&I of the National Oil, Natural Gas, and Biofuel Agency (ANP).
Petrobras is the company with the highest potential for offshore wind generation projects in studies in Brazil of capacity registered with Ibama. It invests in research and development to enable innovative offshore wind projects.
Maurício Tolmasquim, Petrobras’s Energy Transition and Sustainability Director, commented, ”It’s another vital step in our energy transition journey. This project phase is necessary to validate the technology and prompt Brazil’s biggest offshore wind mapping campaign, which is vital to assess the technical feasibility of future offshore wind energy facilities.”
Renata Baruzzi, Petrobras’s Engineering, Technology, and Innovation Director, added, “This project is a great example of Petrobras’s RD&I strategy that supports and strengthens our fair energy transition leadership.
“Through partnerships with prominent national institutions, we drive the technological development of renewable energies, particularly this research, with innovations in offshore wind energy.”
