Enel starts 172 MW wind farm in Brazil

Enel S.p.A. (“Enel”), through its renewable energy subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil Participações Ltda (“EGPB”), has started the construction of the Morro do Chapéu Sul wind farm cluster, which is located in the municipalities of Morro do Chapéu and Cafarnaum in the state of Bahia in north-eastern Brazil, 400 kilometres from state capital Salvador.

“We are pleased to announce the start of construction of Morro do Chapéu Sul,” said Carlo Zorzoli, Enel’s Country Manager in Brazil. “Through the launch of this significant cluster of projects in a wind resource-rich area we once again confirm ourselves as a reliable, strategic player that contributes to the sustainable development of the overall Brazilian electricity sector.”

The new facility will have a total installed capacity of 172 MW and is composed of six wind farms: Ventos de Santa Esperança (28 MW), Ventos de Santa Dulce (28 MW), Ventos de São Mário (30 MW), Ventos de São Paulo (28 MW), Ventos de São Abraão (28 MW) and Boa Vista (30 MW). The cluster is owned by four special purpose vehicles held by EGPB and is expected to enter into service in the first half of 2018. Once completed, Morro do Chapéu Sul will be able to generate more than 830 GWh per year, enough to meet the annual consumption needs of more than 320,000 Brazilian households while avoiding the emission of about 225,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Enel (enel.com) will be investing around 380 million US dollars in construction of the facility as part of the investments foreseen in its current strategic plan, and the investment will be financed through Enel Group’s own resources.

Four of the cluster’s wind farms are supported by 20-year power supply contracts with a pool of Brazilian electricity distribution companies, which EGPB was awarded following the 2014 A-5 energy auction launched by Brazil’s Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL). The remaining two wind farms (Ventos de São Abraão and Boa Vista) are supported by a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in the free market.

Morro do Chapéu Sul is the Enel Group’s sixth wind project in Bahia, a state where it already operates 264 MW of wind power capacity and is currently building the Delfina (180 MW) and Cristalândia (90 MW) wind farms.

EGPB currently has a total installed capacity of 546 MW, of which 401 MW comes from wind, 12 MW from PV solar and 133 MW from hydro. Moreover, the company has 442 MW of wind, 102 MW of hydro and 807 MW of solar projects currently in execution.