BNDES finances seven Brazilian wind projects

BRAZIL: Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has approved the financing of seven wind farms in the country with a total capacity of 196MW.

by Patrick Smith 4 July 2014

Some of the projects will use Acciona's 3MW turbine

The bank has put up $557 million for the development of the projects in the states of Ceará and Rio Grande do Sul.

Four of the projects, the Atlântica I, II, III and IV wind farms, are to be built by Brazilian developer CPFL Energias Renováveis near the city of Palmares do Sul in Rio Grande do Sul.

These projects, which will get $383.7 million of the investment, will each be made up of 40 Acciona AW116-3MW turbines.

The other three projects will receive $173.3 million and are being developed by Brise Energias Renováveis, part of industrial conglomerate Queiroz Galvão.

The wind farms make up the Amontada complex near Fortaleza in Ceará and will have a capacity of 76MW, made up of 28 Alstom ECO122-2.7MW turbines. All seven of the projects are set to come online this year.

BNDES's financing of wind projects has increased significantly in recent years. Last year, the bank distributed BRL 4.3 billion ($1.9 billion), almost double the amount invested in 2011.