Earth Equity News

Brazilian Wind Power Gets a Huge Boost. By Robert Walzer, NYTimes, November 9, 2009. "On Dec. 14, the Brazilian government conducts its first wind-only energy auction. The bidding is expected to lead to the construction of two gigawatts of wind production with an investment of about $6 billion over the next two years. The auction has attracted a number of international players, including the local units of Energias de Portugal, Electricité de France, Spain's Iberdrola, EnerFin of the United States and several Brazilian companies, among others. Interest has been so great, in fact, that the Ministry of Mines and Energy, which is conducting the auction, postponed it by three weeks to allow extra time to evaluate the preliminary bids... Industry and the government had anticipated proposals for 4.5 gigawatts to 6 gigawatts of projects, but 'we came to the astonishing number of 13.3 gigawatts' from 441 proposals, said Pedro Perrelli, the executive director of ABEEólica, the Brazilian Wind Energy Association... Within days, the government plans to release the auction's technical manual, allowing participants to refine their bids... The winners will get a 20-year power-purchase agreement from the state. Brazil counts on hydroelectricity for more than three-quarters of its electricity, but authorities are pushing biomass and wind as primary alternatives. Wind energy's greatest potential in Brazil is during the dry season, so it is considered a hedge against low rainfall and the geographical spread of existing hydro resources. 'In Brazil, wind is very complimentary to hydro,' said João Carlos Mello, the chief executive of Andrade & Canellas, an energy consulting firm advising some bidders in the wind-power auction."