Iberdrola lands BNDES finance for 138MW

BRAZIL: A joint venture led by Iberdrola has received a R$389 million (EUR162 million) finance deal for four wind projects totalling 138MW across the Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia.

by Michael McGovern 22 March 2012

The finance, awarded and announced by national development bank, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social (BNDES), puts up 67.8% of the total project investment requirement (R$573,6 million).

All four projects, developed with Brazilian energy investor Neoenergy, won power purchase agreements in Brazil's 2010 power auction. BNDES expects building to be complete between January and September, 2013.

All of them will use Gamesa turbines.

The projects are Calango (30MW), Arizona (28MW) and Mel (20MW) in Rio Grande do Norte, and Caetité (30MW) in Bahía. Iberdrola says it has a further 180MW of wind capacity building in Brazil, additional to its online 49MW Río do Fogo wind plant.

Tender

At the end of August 2010, Brazil's national electricity clearinghouse Câmara de Comercialização de Energia Elétrica (CCEE), handed out 50 projects with a total capacity of 643.9MW in the country's second renewables auction.

Gamesa was been handed a contract for 258MW by Iberdrola for nine wind farms planned for Brazil. The deal, which is Gamesa’s first supply agreement in the country, was for 129 G8X-2MW turbines.