Neoenergía starts operations of wind power complex in northeastern Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Neoenergía, the second-largest energy distributor in Brazil, controlled by Spanish company Iberdrola, started on Thursday (29) commercial operations of the Chafariz wind power complex, located in the semi-arid region of the northeastern state of Paraíba, which will have 471.25 megawatts of installed capacity.

The first 10 wind turbines, of the total of 15 that will make up the project, began operating today, 17 months ahead of schedule, and have an installed capacity of 34.65 MW, the company explained in a statement.

Full implementation of the giant wind complex in the semi-arid region of Brazil is scheduled for the end of this year, which will be “significantly ahead” of the business plan designed by the company.

The Chafariz wind complex, whose construction began in October 2019, will have 15 farms and 136 turbines, with a unit capacity of 3,465 MW each, and is currently in the testing phase.

It is also one of the largest and most ambitious “wind power generation projects of the company in Brazil and Iberdrola in Latin America”.

According to Neoenergía, the start of operations so many months in advance was possible thanks to the energization of the Santa Luzia II substation and a transmission line, both undertakings located in Paraíba and which have been acquired by the company in an auction held in 2017.

In addition to the partial operation of the Chafariz wind complex, Iberdrola’s Brazilian subsidiary already owns three fully operational wind farms in the northeastern region of the country.

The company also expects to start up the operations of two other renewable energy farms it is building by 2022, most of whose energy has already been contracted.

While the Oitis wind farm complex (12 wind farms with 566 MW) is scheduled to start operating in the first half of 2022, the Luzia solar farm (100 MW) is scheduled for the second half of the same year.

IBERDROLA

Iberdrola is a global energy company based in Bilbao, Spain. It is the second-biggest producer of wind power after Danish Ørsted by revenue and market capitalization. They are the world’s third electricity utility by market capitalization and have subsidiaries in numerous countries, mainly in Spain, United Kingdom (Scottish Power), USA (AVANGRID), Brazil (Neoenergia), Mexico, Germany, Portugal, Italy, or France.

Iberdrola has around 34,000 employees in dozens of countries on four continents, serving around 31.67 million customers. In 2013, the largest shareholder of the company was Qatar Investment Holding. Other significant shareholders included Norges Bank, Kutxabank, and Bankia.

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