GE to sell 82 wind turbines to wind power complex in Brazil

General Electric Co agreed to supply 82 turbines to Brazil’s CER (Companhia de Energias Renováveis), which is building a wind power complex in the country, GE’s Latin America head for wind power, Jean-Claude Robert, told Reuters on Monday.

 

The wind power turbines will be used in a project with total generation capacity of 205 megawatts under construction in the northeastern Bahia state.

“It was an important contract, gave us some relief,” Jean-Claude Robert said. Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.

Wind power equipment makers are suffering as the deepest recession in generations in Brazil reduced power demand and forced the government to delay new construction licenses for wind farms.

Equipment makers such as GE, Vestas Wind Systems AS and Acciona SA, which invested in local plants a couple of years ago, have seen orders plunge.

“This order will to help us go through this difficult period until new licenses are issued again,” the GE official said.

The turbines to be installed by CER are a new type GE started to produce locally, the 2.5-116, which have a larger generation capacity per unit compared with former machines.

Despite the order, Robert said the wind power industry in Brazil urgently needs volume to keep up with operations and pay off investments.

But he sees signs of power demand recovery and expects the government to restart distribution of licenses for new projects soon.