Statkraft is to start construction of its 519MW Ventos de Santa Eugenia wind project in northeastern Brazil, after closing a turbine supply contract with German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex.
Statkraft’s largest wind project in South America will more than double its renewable energy capacity in Brazil.
The 519 MW wind project entails 10 wind farms with a total of 91 turbines in the state of Bahia, located close to Statkraft’s existing wind power assets in the area.
The total investment cost is estimated to cost €0.38bn, and completion is scheduled by June 2023.
Construction will start in January 2021, and the first wind turbines are expected to start operation in September 2022.
The project will use the Nordex 163/5.7MW wind turbine, the largest onshore wind turbines used by Statkraft to date.
With a diameter of 163 meters, the rotors will cover an area equal to almost 3 standard football pitches.
Given the excellent wind conditions in the area, the project will generate almost 2.3TWh of renewable energy per year, enough to supply 1.17m Brazilian homes.
The projects are being implemented in accordance with Brazil’s strict environmental and social permitting and monitoring systems.
This means they must have limited land acquisition, no resettlement, low environmental impacts and no impacts on red-listed species.
In addition, Statkraft will carry out corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities for nearby communities, focused on education and infrastructure improvements.
Statkraft’s country manager for Brazil Fernando de Lapuerta said: “As Brazil is probably one of the most competitive countries in the world when it comes to renewables, I’m very pleased to see that Statkraft is able to produce a competitive and profitable project like this.”
He added that a substantial part of the electricity to be produced is already hedged through public auctions and commercial power sales agreements in the Brazilian open power market.
Statkraft’s EVP of International Power Jürgen Tzschoppe said: “The construction of Ventos de Santa Eugenia represents a significant step on the way to reaching the goal of developing 6 GW of wind power globally by 2025 and fulfil our ambition to become a leading renewable energy company in the world.”