Brazil #1 in South American wind energy market

GE Wind Energy (Fairfleld, CT, US) will soon supply 156 wind turbines (worth about US$427 million) to Brazilian renewable energy developer Casa dos Ventos Energias Renovaveis SA, for its Ventos do Araripe III wind complex, scheduled to begin commercial operation in April 2017, according to a BloombergBusiness article authored by Vanessa Dezem, Aug. 2. Casa dos Ventos will use the equipment for a huge 360-MW wind farm in Brazil’s northeastern states of Piaui and Pernambuco, said Jean-Claude Robert, GE’s general manager for renewable energy in Latin America.

“Brazil is a huge country and if you want to be the number one in Latin America, you need to be big in Brazil,” Roberts told Dezem in a telephone interview from Sao Paulo.

Brazil is, in fact, Latin America’s biggest wind market. In August, the Brazil Wind Energy Assn. (Abeeolica, São Paulo, Brazil) reported that Brazil now has more than 7 GW of installed wind power capacity, growing by about 1 GW in seven months. That according to SeeNews Renewables reporter Lucas Morais, in an Aug. 10 article. The 7-GW mark was reached after three new wind farms started up in Rio Grande do Norte state. Currently, Brazil’s wind capacity provides 5% of the Brazilian power mix. In total, there are 281 wind farms in 11 states. The Brazilian government expects the wind sector to reach 23 GW of installed capacity by 2023 but Abeeolica’s forecast is more optimistic at 27 GW.

Bloomberg’s New Energy Finance says the Brazilian wind industry will attract as much as US$84 billion in investment through 2040. Installations are expected to top 22 GW in the coming 10 years.

Wind power, notably, was GE’s fastest growing business in Brazil last year. The company sold ~500 MW of turbines and expects about 40% growth this year, with sales surpassing 700 MW. GE’s Brazilian turbine factory is near capacity, and service centers are in progress.