Rio Energy has secured R$848m ($270m) funding from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) for the construction of a 223MW wind farm project in Brazil.
Comprising eight wind farms, the project will be built in the Bahia-located Serra da Babilônia Complex. The wind farms will be located across the Morro do Chapéu and Várzea Nova municipalities.
The Serra da Babilônia wind farm project is likely to begin commercial operations in November next year. It will feature 95 Wobben E-92 wind turbines.
Rio Energy CEO and co-founder Marcos Meireles said: “The Serra da Babilônia complex will bring Rio Energy close to 500 MW in operation, a result that strengthens Brazilian wind power generation and creates social and economic development opportunities for the region.”
It is expected to create around 1,400 direct and indirect jobs through the supply chain, construction and operation stages.
BNDES’ funding will also be used for establishing a substation, road accesses and a transmission line.
Founded by Denham Capital, Rio Energy is a developer, owner and operator of renewable power projects in Brazil.
Denham Capital partner and co-president Scott Mackin said: “Rio Energy is a testament to our strategy of backing the best teams that can deliver low cost power generation in high growth economies. We are further delighted to have shared this co-investment opportunity with our existing limited partners, bringing total co-investment commitments to more than $170m.”
Apart from the 223MW Serra da Babilônia project, Rio Energy has two operating wind energy facilities that include the Bahia-located 54MW Eólicas Caetité and the 207MW Eólicas Itarema in Ceará. The company also has a 2GW portfolio of renewable energy projects in the pipeline.