Brazil - Enel Green Power works begin on three wind farms

Enel Green Power (“EGP”), through its subsidiary Enel Enel Brasil Participacoes has started construction work on three wind farms in the Brazilian state of Bahia.

The new wind farms, denominated “Cristal”, “Primavera” and “Sao Judas”, are all located in the same area of inner Bahia state. The plants will have a total installed capacity of approximately 90 MW.

Once entered into service, the three wind farms will be able to generate around 400 GWh a year, therefore avoiding the emission of more than 250,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. The overall investment in the completion of the three wind farms amounts to, approximately, 166 million euros.

In September 2010, EGP won a public tender, held in Brazil and solely dedicated to wind power, for the award of three long-term contracts for the sale of electricity from new power plants. The three projects are characterised by ample wind resources and a load factor of about 45%, one of the highest in the world. The wind generators can indeed operate for around 4,000 hours equivalent per year, which is much higher than the European average. Through the tender, EGP also gained the right to sign a 20-year contract to sell the electricity generated by the three plants through the Brazilian government agency CCEE (Chamber of Electrical Energy Commercialization) at a price indexed 100% to Brazilian inflation.

In 2011, Enel Green Power was awarded other electricity supply contracts in Brazil as part of the “New Energy” public tender, with three wind projects for a total installed capacity of 193 MW. The projects are located in the north-east of the country, in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte.

Brazil is among the global leaders in the generation of green energy, thanks to approximately 93,000 MW of installed renewable capacity, representing about 85% of the country’s total installed generation capacity.

Enel Green Power is the Enel Group company fully dedicated to the development and management of renewable energy sources at the international level, with operations in Europe and the Americas. The company generated 22.5 billion kWh in 2011 from water, sun, wind and the Earth’s heat – enough to meet the energy needs of more than 8 million households and avoid the emission of over 16 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Enel Green Power is a world leader thanks to its well-balanced generation mix, providing generation volumes well over the sector average. The Company has an installed capacity of over 7,600 MW from a mix of sources including wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass. Currently, EGP has around 700 operational plants in 16 countries in Europe and the Americas.

In Latin America, Enel Green Power operates renewables plants in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Chile and Brazil, with a total installed capacity of 831 MW. In the wind sector, as well as the three projects in Brazil for a total capacity of 90 MW, the company operates 24 MW in Costa Rica and 74 MW in Mexico. Thanks to its century-long experience with geothermal energy, Enel Green Power is also developing new opportunities in this sector. In particular, in Chile the Company is conducting exploratory work at a number of concessions, with a potential capacity of more than 100 MW.