Australia’s Pacific Hydro plans to invest almost USD 1.5B in Brazilian wind projects over the next five years, says the renewable-energy firm. The outlay will expand the company’s installed wind capacity in Brazil, either in operation or under construction, from 58MW to 400MW, according to Pacific Hydro’s Brazil general manager Adriana Waltrick.
Waltrick says, “Brazil is a growing market for Pacific Hydro. Currently, it represents 10% of our global business and we were ranked thirtieth in the Brazilian renewable energy market in terms of installed capacity.” Wind power currently contributes about 2.5GW to Brazil’s national grid, and is slated to be Brazil’s fastest growing energy source over the next decade, according to the federal energy planning company EPE. Almost 600 wind farms generating 16GW of installed capacity are expected to be added to the country’s power generation matrix over the next eight years.
Increased competitiveness is driving the growth in the industry, with wind prices falling as low as USD 43.3/MWh at the A-5 auction last December. However, Waltrick believes prices must stabilize if wind generation is to remain profitable. “We believe that many projects recently awarded at energy auctions will have challenging implementation and operational conditions, and might not have the economic returns desired by most investors,” Waltrick said.
