Brazil: Enel Green Power starts production at Dois Riachos wind farm

Enel Green Power (EGP) has connected to the grid the Dois Riachos wind farm, which is located in the state of Bahia in north-eastern Brazil and is the first part of the 118 MW Serra Azul wind power complex to start operations.

With an installed capacity of 30 MW, Dois Riachos will be able to generate over 140 GWh per year, equal to the power needs of more than 70,000 Brazilian households, and will avoid the annual emission of around 14,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The Serra Azul wind power complex will be composed of three additional wind farms: Damascena (30 MW), Maniçoba (30 MW) and Esperança (28 MW). The operating complex will be able to generate over 500 GWh a year – equal to the consumption of about 280,000 Brazilian households – while avoiding the emission of more than 50,000 tonnes of CO2.

Serra Azul is held by Parque Eolico Serra Azul Ltda, a subsidiary of Enel Brasil Participaçoes Ltda. The energy generated by the complex will mainly be sold through power supply contracts on the regulated market.
 
EGP is investing approx. 220 million US dollars in construction of Serra Azul, in line with the growth targets set out in the current strategic plan. This investment is being partially financed with loans from International Finance Corporation, a World Bank Group member, and Itaù Unibanco SA. Both loans are related to the construction of wind farms in north-eastern Brazil.

Enel Green Power is the Enel Group Company fully dedicated to the international development and management of renewable energy sources, with operations in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With a generation capacity that corresponds to approximately 32 billion kWh in 2014 from water, sun, wind and the Earth’s heat – enough to meet the energy needs of more than 11 million households – Enel Green Power is a world leader in the sector thanks to its well-balanced generation mix that provides generation volumes well over the sector average. The company has an installed capacity of more than 10,000 MW from a mix of sources including wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass. The company has about 740 plants operating in 17 countries.

In Latin America, Enel Green Power runs renewable energy plants in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay that have a total installed capacity of more than 2,000 MW. In addition to the 30 MW just added in Brazil, the company operates 442 MW of installed wind capacity in Mexico, 283 MW in Brazil, 340 MW in Chile, 24 MW in Costa Rica and has recently brought on line a 50 MW wind farm in Uruguay. The company also has 732 MW of hydropower and 178 MW of solar capacity installed across the region. Enel Green Power, which has a century’s worth of experience in geothermal energy, is building the 38 MW Cerro Pabellon facility in Chile, South America’s first-ever geothermal plant, with national oil company ENAP.