Petrobrás unveils plans for first wind ever wind farm

BRAZIL: Brazil's state-run energy giant Petrobrás has rolled out plans to start its first wind farm in 2011.

24 August 2010

Rio Grande do Norte state environmental regulator IDEMA in July awarded Petrobrás an installation license to build the 104MW Mangue Seco wind farm near to its Clara Camarão refinery. 

The move is Brazil’s largest company latest step to tap renewable energies such as biomass, ethanol and now wind.

Petrobrás will partner with local company Alubar Energia to build the Mangue Seco 1 complex with 26MW being generated from 13 turbines.

The company will then build Mangue Seco 2 with national energy company Eletrobrás and Mangue Seco 3 and 4 with German wind turbine manufacturer Wobben Wind Power.

In December, Petrobrás secured 20-year supply contracts to begin supplying energy from 2012 via Brazil’s first-ever wind energy auction.