Brazil plans to lure investors with green energy deals at COP27

Brazil’s Minister of the Environment Joaquim Leite said that the energy crisis in Europe, triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has brought an opportunity for Brazil. In an interview on public radio broadcast A Voz do Brasil this Wednesday (Sep 21), he said that international industry has been on the lookout for affordable energy—just what the country is bringing to the table, he argued.

“Brazil has an energy cost of 40 euros per megawatt. In Europe, it’s priced at 200, and has reached a thousand. As energy grows pricier in Europe, a lot of factories are going to move to Brazil in search of Brazil’s clean energy opportunities,” he stated.

Brazil already produces a lot of clean energy, including wind, solar, and biomass energy, and there is still room for expansion, the minister remarked.

“Brazil set a record for onshore wind energy: 21 gigawatts. In rough terms, Itaipu has an installed capacity of 14 GW. It’s quite significant. Solar energy also stands at 14 GW—[the equivalent of] an already installed solar Itaipu. And there’s also biomass. These are the three main ones to use and generate this clean energy everyone’s looking for,” he said. “In addition, we have [the equivalent of] 50 Itaipus that can be installed offshore—and all this surplus energy can be transformed into hydrogen and green ammonia for export.”

COP27

The country will use the next United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP27, to be held in Egypt in November, to showcase these investment opportunities in the country, the minister declared.

Brazil will have a 300 square meter stand, he went on to note, with the themes green energy, industry, and sustainable agribusiness.

“We’ll offer the chance for undertakings and investment in Brazil, mainly showing the green energy sources and the magnitude of Brazil’s surplus energy. We’re building it so we can unveil a real and sustainable Brazil at the climate conference.”