SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian power firm Eletrobras has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ocean Winds to study the development of offshore wind farms in Brazil, the firms said on Tuesday in a joint statement.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Offshore wind farms are expected to be an important technology to generate large volumes of renewable energy in Brazil in the future.

However, the world's sixth largest producer of onshore wind energy - in capacity terms - does not have offshore farms, as it lacks its own regulatory framework for these projects.

Eletrobras is Latin America's largest power company, while Ocean Winds is a joint venture between Portugal's EDP Renovaveis and France's Engie focused on offshore wind projects.

KEY QUOTES

Ocean Winds said it "strategically directs its efforts to Brazil", citing the country's potential to "meet the growing demand for renewable energy in the long term".

The agreement "allows the development of strategic cooperation, which will contribute to making power generation sources in Brazil and around the world increasingly cleaner and renewable," said Eletrobras director for M&A and business development Leonardo Soares, in the statement.

(Reporting by Leticia Fucuchima in Sao Paulo; Writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Marguerita Choy)