Petrobras said in a statement that including these PV plants, there are 33 projects supported by the fund. These projects have the potential to cut emissions by more than 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Photovoltaic plants will be built at the Gabriel Passos (Regap) refinery in Minas Gerais, the Abreu e Lima (Rnest) refinery in Pernambuco and the Paulínia (Replan) refinery in São Paulo, Petrobras said. The three plants will have an estimated combined capacity of 48 megawatts and are scheduled to start operating in 2025.
"The installation of photovoltaic plants integrated into the refinery generation system allows for improved integration and operational reliability, reducing gas consumption and, consequently, greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the company's strategic planning for a just energy transition", said William França da Silva, director for industrial processes and products at Petrobras.
The company aims to neutralize operational emissions by 2025 through its portfolio under the Decarbonization Fund.
"Petrobras is a major energy consumer, which is an important lever for our ambition to advance, in the coming years, in renewable generation projects of great materiality, seeking to combine profitable projects with the progressive decarbonization of our activities and our products", Petrobras energy transition and sustainability director Maurício Tolmasquim said.
The Petrobras Decarbonization Fund currently has a budget of $1 billion. This is available for 2024 to 2028.
Petrobras aims to cut its total operational emissions by 30 percent by 2030 relative to 2015 levels. The long-term goal is to neutralize operational emissions by 2050.
