Brazil buoy gauges potential for wind energy production in open sea

Brazil’s state-run oil giant Petrobras has started testing a device capable of measuring the speed and direction of the wind at sea. Bravo—a Portuguese acronym for remote buoy for offshore wind assessment—is a piece of equipment capable of assessing the potential for building offshore wind power generation parks.

The enterprise is financed by national electric energy authority ANEEL, in partnership with the SENAI institutes of Innovation in Renewable Energy and of Embedded Systems.

Initiated in 2021, the project is scheduled to last two years and should have a total investment of BRL 9 million. The use of Brazilian-made equipment is expected to slash costs by 40 percent from leasing the equipment from abroad.

In addition to measuring wind speed and direction, Bravo can process atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and relative humidity, as well as data about waves and sea currents.

The buoy, some 2.5 meters in diameter and 3.5 meters high, was installed on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte state and should provide access to data collected on site via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or satellite over the next seven months.