Brazil: Possible power of the energy transition and renewable energies

Brazil wants to be "fertile soil" for foreign investments in the energy sector, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, told EFE during a trip to New York, where this Monday he is presenting the country's energy transition projects.

The Government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva seeks to attract investments in transmission lines, in generation projects from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and green hydrogen, as well as biofuels and oil and gas.

Investment for the energy transition

Silveira said that Brazil has "everything" to be a global protagonist in the energy transition, recalling that the South American country already produces 88% of its electricity with renewable sources, mainly from hydroelectric plants.

One of the main investment projects promoted by the Brazilian Government is in the transmission area, in which it plans to raise 60,000 million reais (about 12,300 million dollars) in the coming months, according to the head of Mines and Energy. .

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The minister stated that "Brazil has already decided that it will make a safe and inclusive energy transition," but stressed that to finance this process it needs to continue resorting to oil exploitation.

The case of Petrobras

Specifically, he defended the plans of Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil company, to explore the existence of hydrocarbons in the marine basin at the mouth of the Amazon , which according to preliminary calculations could house important oil and gas reserves.

He assured that the Brazilian people "have the right" to know the size of "the mineral potential that is buried in the ground or in the sea , so that they can decide sovereignly" about their exploitation.

Last May, the Brazilian Environmental Institute (Ibama) denied Petrobras the granting of the environmental license necessary to begin drilling in that marine basin , located about 185 kilometers off the coast of the Amazonian state of Amapá.

Petrobras appealed that decision and is currently awaiting a new ruling from the environmental regulatory body, which expressed concern because it is "a sensitive region" with rich biodiversity and three protected areas.

Silveira defended that Ibama and the Ministry of the Environment "sign up all the appropriate and necessary legal conditions" to authorize the exploitation of crude oil by Petrobras, which must "comply with them with total environmental safety."