Enel Green Power, the renewable energy arm of Italy’s Enel, has started to build a 348-megawatt wind farm in Bahia as part of its investment plan in clean power. The plan is to install a solar farm and a battery system in the future so that the venture becomes hybrid. Located in the municipalities of Umburanas, Morro do Chapéu and Ourolândia, the wind farm will have investments of R$2.5 billion and will consist of 81 wind turbines, all already contracted with Nordex Acciona.
Power generation will be intended for the free market. Becoming hybrid, however, still depends on the definition of technical regulations — rules for hybrid farms were approved last year — but Enel is already ready for this step, said Roberta Bonomi, head of Enel Green Power in Brazil. The company is also ready to expand if demand for power in the free market remains high, she told Valor.
Ms. Bonomi pointed out that not only Aroeira, but all the company’s plants are being considered for hybrid operation, with solar plants or storage systems. At the first moment, clean and cheap energy development was the focus in the country, and now, with the possibility of working with hybrid power plants, the company seeks a solution for the intermittency of wind and solar.
“Considering that the country has a large hydroelectric capacity, which is the natural batteries of the electrical system, [systems of] batteries would be the perfect way to achieve stability,” she said. She points out that wind and solar complement each other at the peak of operation — wind generates more electricity at night — and batteries, today more competitive, will add stability. “This will allow us to take even more advantage of the Northeast region’s resources and increase the system’s capacity,” Ms. Bonomi said.
In the free market, it is possible to choose the power supplier, and decarbonization, as a rule, has led many companies to seek renewable generation as a way to meet the goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Even with the effects of war and a more adverse economic scenario, Enel Green Power’s plans for Brazil are maintained. “The energy transition is a movement that cannot stop,” the executive said.
She commented that energy transition, and an eventual acceleration in this process, places more responsibility on the companies in the industry and forces them to have a broader look at issues related to sustainability, especially because they are increasingly seen as driving a less carbonized energy.
Bahia, she exemplifies, is a state where the company has been active since 2011 and is considered key for the company since 40% of Enel Green Power’s total 4.7 GW of installed capacity is in the state. For the implementation of the new farm, the company is negotiating with the authorities so that local professionals keep 50% of the 1,200 direct jobs to be generated. In the world, the company has accelerated the goal of zero carbon, which has to be reached in 2040, 10 years before the initial target, and wants to leave the coal-fired generation business by 2026.
As for offshore wind power, an offshore installation technology that is at the center of debates in the power industry, Ms. Bonomi says that the company is not yet considering entering this segment because it is still more expensive than onshore plants.
She pointed out that wind farms are close to the coast in Brazil, which means a very high cost for the benefits that would be obtained by the source. Another reason is that the country still has large tracts of land and potential for onshore plants, which is not the case in other countries.
For her, the source can make sense in the future, but the ideal would be to let other countries advance in the development of offshore generation, even as a way to reduce implementation costs. “At this moment, it doesn’t make sense to invest in Brazil in a technology that is more expensive. Our main goal is to reduce the bill for the final consumer.”
Source: Valor International