International power development and operation company ContourGlobal has inaugurated the 160MW Asa Branca Wind Park, its first wind farm complex in Brazil.
Headquartered in New York, the company has approximately 3,000MW in operation across 18 countries and four continents.
The Asa Branca project is located in Rio Grande do Norte, which is considered to have one of the world’s best wind resources created from the meeting of the cool Atlantic waters off the coast of Natal and the hot dry desert conditions of the interior.
While it was a challenge to take nearly 1000MW wind generation to a previously sparsely populated area, Asa Branca overcame it with the help of other wind companies in the region, the company noted.
The project required an investment of about $247.04m (R$ 600m), out of which $185.28m (R$ 450m) was financed by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social – BNDES).
The project will generate an estimated 160MW of electricity, which is sufficient to light up 300,000 homes.
ContourGlobal Latin America CEO Alessandra Marinheiro said: "We are delighted to contribute to the country’s development through another ContourGlobal investment in Brazil.
"The Asa Branca Complex was built focused on safety, social responsibility, using the best engineering practices, and with the help of partners that ensured the high quality of the work. It is a model of success for ContourGlobal."
The project, which is the company’s third in the country, has created over 600 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs.
The company also supported social programs like the environmental education program which helped about 3,500 people in the city of João Câmara.
ContourGlobal president and CEO Joseph C Brandt noted: "We are proud to inaugurate the Asa Branca facility, our first wind farm in Brazil and a significant addition to our Brazil renewable business and our broader Latin American generation operations.
"We salute the ContourGlobal team responsible for this great success as well as our great partners, General Electric, Casa dos Ventos, Cortez, WEGand BNDES, (with whom we have financed three renewable projects in Brazil). Together we developed and constructed a major infrastructure project in a remote region and did so with an exemplary safety record — 3 Lost Time Accidents over 1,600,000 hours worked in two years.
"We look forward to continuing our growth in Brazil’s wind energy sector with our partners in a new 210 MW wind farm in Piauí state that was awarded at the Reserve Auction that took place last August and will require approximately R$ 780 million investment."
Brazil plans to focus on wind energy over the next decade as it faces the worst drought in decades, increasing concerns over the reliance on hydro power, reports Bloomberg.
The country expects to produce 22.4GW of wind power by 2023.
Currently, Brazil is the world’s second-largest hydroelectric producer.
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Image: Brazil expects to produce 22.4GW of wind power by 2023. Photo: Courtesy of dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net