Iberdrola, through its subsidiary Neoenergia, will build its largest offshore wind energy complex in Latin America, called Oitis and which will consist of a total of 12 wind farms that will add a combined installed capacity of 566.6 megawatts (MW).
The global investment figure for energy in this ‘wind energy megaproject’ will be around 480 million euros, as they indicated to Europa Press in market sources.
This new project, which will be the second largest Iberdrola wind complex in the World, will be located between the states of Piau and Bahia, in the Northeast of Brazil, and its complete start-up is scheduled for mid-2022.
Two of the parks – Oitis 1 and Oitis 8 – are already guaranteed the sale of 30% of the clean energy they will generate, after the auction organized by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) last June. The other 10 facilities will negotiate the sale of their electricity production in the market.
Neoenergia currently has 516 MW of operating wind power and, with the Oitis wind complex, has 1,038 MW of wind power under construction. Once all the projects have been completed, in 2022, it will add 1,600 MW of wind power in operation, tripling the current figure. The group is already guaranteed the sale of 51% of the energy through regulated contracts, while the other 49% will be placed in the free market.
The construction of this ‘megaproject’ will involve the entry of Neoenergia into a new state, that of Piauí, and will contribute to the economic and social development of both this state of northeastern Brazil and the neighboring state of Bahia.
In addition, with those 566.5 MW, Oitis will become the second largest project of the group in offshore wind by installed capacity, only behind the American of Peñascal, located in Texas (606 MW), and just ahead of the Scottish wind farm from Whitelee, located south of Glasgow (539 MW).
With this new project, the company continues to strengthen its worldwide leadership in the renewable energy sector, with an installed capacity at the end of the first half of this year of around 30,400 MW.
Growth in Brazil
Likewise, the group chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán reaffirms its commitment to Brazil, where, through Neoenergia, it plans to invest between 25,000 and 30,000 million Brazilian reais – some 6,500 million euros – over the next five years.
This amount will mainly be used to expand and improve the distribution networks of the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, São Paulo and Matto Grosso do Sul, to develop new transportation lines and to build more wind farms
In any case, to the investments already committed by this subsidiary of the Iberdrola group, which has been listed on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange since last April, new projects derived from the auctions of lines and generation capacity that the Ministry of Mines could add and Energy plans to convene in the coming years.
Through Neoenergia, Iberdrola is one of the two largest electricity companies in Brazil by number of customers, with 13.9 million supply points and 34 million customers. Present so far in 18 states, it is dedicated to the generation, transport, distribution and commercialization of electricity in an area of ??840,000 square kilometers.
The company currently has a production capacity in the country of more than 3,700 MW, of which almost 86% are already renewable. If the projects under construction are added, this power already exceeds 5,000 MW.
Among the clean power generation facilities in Brazil, the Baixo Iguacu hydroelectric plant stands out, inaugurated last May by Galán, which has 350 MW and has involved an investment of more than 500 million euros.
The group also has almost 700,000 kilometers of power lines, operated by the four companies integrated in Neoenergia: Cosern, Celpe, Coelba and Elektro.
