The largest wind farm in South America starts commercial operations
The construction of the facility is the responsibility of the Enel Green Power Brasil Group Participation with an investment of approximately 3,000 million Brazilian reais
The Enel group, through its subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil Participações (“EGPB”), has started the commercial operations of the Lagoa dos Ventos wind farm, located in Brazil. With 716 megawatts (MW), it is currently the largest wind power installation in operation in South America and Enel Green Power’s largest wind farm worldwide, the company reported.
The construction of the facility, located in the municipalities of Lagoa do Barro do Piauí, Queimada Nova and Dom Inocêncio, in the State of Piauí, in the Northeast of Brazil, has represented an investment of around 3,000 million Brazilian reais (about 620 millions of euros).
The CEO of Enel Green Power and head of Enel’s Global Power Generation business line, Salvatore Bernabei, highlighted that this park is “an unprecedented wind project and the start of its commercial operation is “an important milestone for the company, especially in light of the challenges due to the global health context.”
Lagoa dos Ventos of 716 MW is made up of 230 wind turbines and will be able to generate more than 3.3 terawatt hours (TWh) per year, avoiding the emission of more than 1.9 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Of the total installed capacity of the wind farm, 510 MW were awarded to Enel Green Power in the A-6 public tender in Brazil held in December 2017 and are backed by 20-year power supply contracts with a group of distribution companies operating in the country’s regulated market. The production of the remaining 206 MW will be delivered to the free market for sale to retail clients, taking advantage of Enel’s integrated presence in the country.
New project
In addition, last December, Enel announced the start of construction of the new 396 MW Lagoa dos Ventos III wind project. With the new wind farm, which will require an investment of close to 360 million euros, the total capacity of Lagoa dos Ventos will reach 1.1 gigawatts (GW).
The entire wind complex will have 302 wind turbines and will be able to generate around 5.0 TWh per year, avoiding the emission of more than 2.8 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.
Source: dpa
