Emerging challenges of offshore wind energy in the Global South: Perspectives from Brazil

Abstract

Government authorities and lobbying groups have promoted wind power in Brazil as offering win-win outcomes for electricity consumers and investors and, increasingly, for green hydrogen exporters. Analysis of siting and planning processes for Latin America's first proposed offshore wind farm, in Brazil's Cear´ a state, show that elites and state authorities are exploiting conditions of the offshore marine environment, resulting in the reproduction of injustices and negative environmental externalities that have characterized some onshore wind farms. These emerging processes are not unique to Brazil and should be analyzed in other areas of the Global South where power and information asymmetries impede marginalized communities from meaningful participation in siting and licensing decisions and obtaining benefits in line with principles of energy justice.