Brazil Wind-Turbine Makers to Get BNDES Loans, Group Says

Stephan Nielsen – Bloomberg, 8/13/2012

Four wind-turbine suppliers will re- qualify for cheap loans from Brazil’s development bank BNDES within three months as they start complying with local-content requirements.

Three of the companies will be eligible for low-cost loans within 40 days and a fourth within 90 days, Elbia Melo, executive president of Sao Paulo-based wind-industry trade group, Associacao Brasileira de Energia Eolica, said in a telephone interview.

Melo received the information from BNDES, which accused Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS), Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL), Siemens AG (SIE), Acciona SA (ANA) and Fuhrlaender AG of not getting at least 40 percent of their parts from local suppliers following an audit in June. The bank didn’t identify to Melo which of the companies would regain financing.

Read more…

Brazil’s wind power expansion threatened by changing scenario, an industrial info news alert

MSNBC/Marketwire, 04/27/2012

Researched by Industrial Info Resources Latin America (Cordoba, Argentina) — Brazil plans to begin operating 4,592 megawatts (MW) of wind power generation within the next two years, which will be added to the existing 1,502 MW of installed wind capacity. However, this expansion of wind power generation in Brazil faces several scenarios that destabilize installation schedules planned for the next two years. Connection problems, environmental licensing process, poor logistics and a lack of financing are causing delays and could lead to withdrawal from wind projects by entrepreneurs.

For details, view the entire article by subscribing to Industrial Info’s Premium Industry News at
http://www.industrialinfo.com/showAbstract.jsp?newsitemID=214222&refer=marketwire
, or browse other breaking industrial news stories at www.industrialinfo.com.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info’s quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what’s happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the www.industrialinfo.com ”Contact Us” page.

Read more…

How did wind beat the price of natural gas in Brazil?

Herman Trabish – Green Tech Media, 08/29/2011

In one of the world’s major oil and gas producing nations, what is wind doing so right?

In December 2009, the price of wind in Brazil — derived in Ministry of Energy-supervised, regulated market auctions — was 148 Reals ($91.93) per megawatt-hour. By December of the following year, the competitive price had fallen to 130 Reals ($80.75) per megawatt-hour. At that time, the Ministry revised its 2005 projection from a 2030 installed capacity of 5,000 megawatts to a 2020 installed capacity of 11,000 megawatts.

This summer’s National Electric Power Agency (ANEEL) auction saw wind’s price drop to 99.5 Reals ($61.79) per megawatt-hour. The best price for natural gas-generated electricity in the same auction was 103 Reals ($63.98) per megawatt-hour, an economy-turning event for a country that is one of the world’s major oil and gas producers.

Read more…

Brazil’s booming wind sector faces auction test

Brian Ellsworth – Reuters, 08/17/2011

Cattle walk inside a wind farm in the city of Osorio, southern Brazil, November 30, 2007. Credit: Reuters/Jamil Bittar

Brazil’s blustery coastlines and booming electricity demand have spurred a wind-power gold rush as investors flock to build turbines and set up wind farms.

Yet, as wind projects slowly shed government protection to compete head-to-head with traditionally cheaper fossil fuel energy, government power auctions this week may reveal whether the wind-power investment euphoria is overblown.

Developers of natural gas power plants, biomass thermoelectric plants and wind farms will compete in an auction on Wednesday to offer the lowest prices for the electricity their facilities will sell in the coming years. A second auction on Thursday will not include natural gas projects.

Read more…

Northeast Brazil invests in wind energy, operational by December 2012

Mercopress, 07/19/2011

Turbines in the three locations should generate 90 MW

The company will deliver, install and commission ten units of the V90-3MW and 30 units of the V100-2MW turbine for the Sao Pedro do Lago, Pedra Branca and Sete Gameleiras wind farms, all located in the Brazilian state of Bahia.

The contract also includes a VestasOnline Business SCADA system and a ten-year service agreement with the AOM 5000 solution.

Delivery of the turbines is expected to begin in the first half of 2012 and the wind farms are expected to be start commercial operations in December 2012.

Read more…

Brazilian Wind Power Gets a Boost

Robert Walzer-The New York Times, 11/09/09

Photo Courtesy of Flickr User LanceChengImages

Early this decade, a drought in Brazil that cut water to the country’s hydroelectric dams prompted severe energy shortages. The crisis, which ravaged the country’s economy and led to electricity rationing, underscored Brazil’s pressing need to diversify away from water power.

One result of that introspection will climax on Dec. 14, when the Brazilian government conducts its first wind-only energy auction. The bidding is expected to lead to the construction of two gigawatts of wind production with an investment of about $6 billion over the next two years.

Read more…