Ceará produces largest wind blade ever manufactured in the Southern Hemisphere

With 74 meters in length, the new blades designed by Aeris will equip Vestas wind turbines in Brazil. Industry invested about $ 100 million in infrastructure to develop wind energy equipment in the state.
Ceará began producing, in August, the largest wind turbine ever made in the Southern Hemisphere. At 74 meters in length, the new blades designed by Aeris will equip wind turbines ofwind power plants of the multinational Vestas in Brazil. And later, depending on demand, the parts can be shipped to the foreign market.
As these pieces usually measure between 50 and 60 meters, Aeris, installed in the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex (Cipp), had to invest around R $ 100 million in infrastructure to develop the new part. The expectation is that the new blades will begin to be dispatched by land from the end of November.

“The production of this blade is a milestone for us at Aeris. It is a project that started just over a year ago, but we still have many challenges ahead. Anyway, it shows that we Brazilians are capable of facing and deliver any challenge “, evaluates the president of Aeris, Alexandre Negrão. In 2016, the company expanded the factory and today generates about 3,500 direct jobs in Cipp.

The construction of a new warehouse, equipment acquisition and staff training are among the investments made by the company. “Today, we are the only ones in Brazil with the installed capacity to produce these blades,” says Mauro Castroli, an analyst with Aeris’ corporate communications department. Over 11 months, more than 30 company professionals were trained to participate in the process of manufacturing the new wind blade.

According to Castroli, the first blades are still in the testing phase, but production will continue until the first shipments. “We estimate that in November or December begin shipping. Until then, we are in a maturing phase to set up the logistics procedure,” he says. “But by 2020, we will be producing and shipping.”

The new blades will be installed in generators with generation potential of around 4.2 megawatts (MW), almost twice the largest in operation in the country.

In addition to the start of production of the new 74-meter blade, in August Aeris reached the milestone of 1,500 wind blades exported since the beginning of its operation in 2010. The pieces, shipped through the Port of Pecém, are mainly intended for the United States.

“One of the largest wind blades in the world has just been built here, inside the Pecém Complex. When you reflect on this feat, you realize the size of the potential of the companies installed here,” says Danilo Serpa, president of Cipp.

According to Carlos Alberto Alves, manager of Tecer Portals Terminals, a company that performs the operation of shovel shipments in Pecem, Porto is already prepared to move the new shovels as soon as there is demand from the foreign market.