With 16 GW of wind power installed in the country, wind energy is expected to reach 24.2 GW in 2024, considering auctions already held and contracts signed for wind farm plants on the free market. Infovento 2019, a newsletter produced by the Brazilian Wind Energy Association and published on Monday, June 15, World Wind Day, shows that last year 55.9 TWh and 9.7% of all electricity generation were generated in the National Interconnected System. Wind turbines have already attracted investments of R $ 31.3 billion. There are 637 wind farms in 12 states, with a total of 7,738 operating wind turbines.
In a webinar held in reference to the commemorative date, Abeeólica’s CEO, Élbia Gannoum, pointed out that wind power represents 9.3% of the Brazilian electricity matrix, second only to hydroelectric, with 59.6% . According to Abeeólica, wind energy grew 15.5% in 2019, while generation from all sources in the National Interconnected System grew 1.5%. The progress of wind power has been making in the free market was highlighted in the webinar. Of the 24.4 GW in 2024, 8.2 GW of them will go to the ACL. In 2018, 1.9 GW was contracted for the free market, while in 2019 it grew to 2.9 GW, supplanting the regulated market, which grew 1.8 GW. This movement comes as a result of the modernization of the electricity sector presented by the government.
The BNDES financing model launched in 2019 has attracted many investments. “Wind power has great potential in the free market.” Regarding the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the executive recalled that the international renewable energy agency IRENA has already revealed that investments in alternative sources will be fundamental factors for the resumption of the economy: “They will generate jobs and dynamics for the economic activity, they will not wait for the economy to grow, they can be a starting point for the resumption “, he warns. Last year, the capacity factor in Brazil was 42.7%, above the world average of 34%.
Global Wind Energy Council CEO Ben Backwell, who also attended the webinar, said 2020 would be considered a record year for the wind industry, with more than 76 GW installed. With the pandemic, the global expectation is now 61.34 GW for this year. According to him, in 2021, there will be a significant recovery in the sector in 2021 due to these projects that will be implemented in 2020. “These projects will not disappear, they will go to 2021,” he says. With that, 2021 should have a record 77.7 GW installed. Another aspect that ended up causing the sector to have little impact is that the first quarter of the year has little activity in China, the largest market. Backwell cautions that an economic recession will have an impact on energy prices, and projected market change processes for some countries should also be a focus.
The North American company GE Renewable Energy led the installation of new wind turbines in Brazil in 2019, followed by Siemens-Gamesa and the local manufacturer WEG (WEGE3). In addition to the first three places, the German group Nordex (Acciona) in fourth position, with 4.9%.
The free market was also the focus of Luís Augusto Barroso, CEO of PSR, who participated in the virtual event. According to him, with the expansion of the ACL envisaged in a new model, the regulated environment will have an increasingly reduced participation. This consumer will have more of a long-term focus on personalized and innovative solutions. “For those who buy or sell, it will be essential to specify the product that they are selling well,” he says. In his opinion, the impacts of hourly prices and the end of subsidies are considered key issues for wind energy in Brazil. For Barroso, current stability in the environment is a good time to discuss the country’s offshore wind energy source, which is already a reality in the world, unlike in Brazil.