Plans Unveiled for Floating Wind Pilot in Brazil, 1 GW Offshore Wind Farm in Morocco
While the offshore wind industry faces challenges in some regions, in others, project development and national ambitions are progressing and expanding. This week, offshoreWIND.biz reported on plans for the first projects in Brazil and Morocco, the Scottish government's proposal to increase Scotland's 2040 offshore wind target to up to 40 GW, and progress on two South Korean offshore wind farms in development. Read more in our recap 👇
A consortium led by Japan Blue Energy (JB Energy) has unveiled plans for what they say is Brazil's first floating offshore wind pilot project in the waters off Rio Grande do Sul.
A letter of intent was signed by Sindienergia-RS, Portos RS, JB Energy, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Mingyang Energy, and engineering, environmental monitoring, and operations companies.
The Aura Sul Wind floating offshore wind pilot project will feature Raijin Float technology. According to JB Energy, the platform is made of pre-cast and pre-stressed concrete and operates in deep waters. It is also designed to reduce installation cost and construction time by up to 50 per cent.
With an estimated investment of USD 100 million and based on Japanese technology, the pilot project is expected to be installed by 2030.
Africa’s first offshore wind farm is set to be built in Morocco, according to plans unveiled on 10 June at the Third United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC3) in France.
The project, planned to have an installed capacity of 1 GW, will be built near Essaouira, with construction beginning by 2029.
This was announced by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which held a session on finance and innovation as sustainable blue economy accelerators during the Mediterranean Day at UNOC3.
Morocco’s first offshore wind farm will be supported by the Blue Mediterranean Partnership (BMP), a multi-donor fund promoted by the UfM that mobilises investments in sustainable blue economy projects in the Southern Mediterranean and Red Sea areas, to which Spain formally signed an EUR 8.5 million contribution on 10 June, bringing the fund’s total to EUR 22 million.
The Scottish government is seeking views on proposals which would see the country’s offshore wind ambition increased to up to 40 GW of new capacity by 2040.
The consultation will run until 13 August. The estimate that 40 GW equates to enough renewable energy to power 45 million homes assumes offshore wind capacity in 20240 will operate at load factors according to the previous five-year average, said the government.
The Offshore Wind Policy Statement, published in 2020, set a target of 8 GW to 11 GW of offshore wind in Scotland by 2030.
According to the government, the increase in the offshore wind capacity target reflects significant private sector interest in the ScotWind and the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) seabed leasing rounds.
A floating LiDAR has been installed at the Admiral Lee offshore wind farm site in South Korea.
The system, which is a critical component for the project’s wind resource and environmental data collection, was installed by Seatech on 12 June 2025.
Positioned off the coast of Yeosu, the system will continuously gather high-resolution data on wind speed, direction, wave height, and atmospheric conditions over the next several months.
The information will feed directly into the wind farm’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), supporting turbine layout optimisation.
The Admiral Lee offshore wind project is being developed by Deep Wind Offshore in partnership with Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP)
At the beginning of this year, Deep Wind Offshore secured a Public Waters Occupancy and Use Permit (PWOP) for the up to 1.5 GW wind farm.
Equinor has selected Ekwil’s INOC semi-submersible floating foundation technology for its 750 MW Firefly/Bandibuli floating offshore wind project in South Korea.
The project builds on early design work initiated in 2022 through the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) delivered by Technip Energies and Inocean.
Engineered to support Siemens Gamesa’s 15 MW turbines, the INOC semi-submersible floating foundation platform is designed for reliable performance in South Korea’s challenging offshore conditions, according to Ekwil.
Equinor obtained approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Firefly/Bandibuli floating wind farm offshore Ulsan in July 2024.
In October 2024, the wind farm entered into a Transmission Service Agreement (TSA) with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), and two months later, Firefly/Bandibuli was announced as one of the five offshore wind projects awarded capacity by South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE).
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Diretora LATAM de Novos Negócios na Blue Aspirations Brasil / LATAM Director of New Business at Blue Aspirations Brazil
3moThe successful realization of the Aura Sul Wind project hinges entirely on the unified collaboration and participation of all consortium members. It is essential to publicly acknowledge every entity involved, as this pioneering initiative would not be possible without their collective efforts. Each participant plays an integral and fundamental role in the successful execution and completion of this transformative endeavor. On behalf of Blue Aspirations Brasil we extend our sincere gratitude for your attention.
Thanks so much for sharing the Aura Sul Wind project! We’d love to chat more and share additional details. Let’s stay in touch!