| Project Detail |
Iberdrola group builds the Oitis onshore wind farm complex in Brazil. Consisting of 12 wind farms, the new development will have a total installed capacity of 566.5 MW, which makes it the largest onshore wind farm project in Latin America and the second largest in the world.
Iberdrola strengthens its presence in the Brazilian renewable energy sector with a new development. Through its subsidiary Neoenergia*, it is building in Brazil its largest onshore wind farm complex in Latin America to date: Oitis. Located between the states of Piauí and Bahia, the project will consist of 12 wind farms that will provide an installed capacity of 566.5 MW once it is completely commissioned, which is scheduled for 2023.
The work began in November 2020 — three months ahead of schedule — in the Oitis 22 park in the municipality of Casa Nova (Bahia), and represented Iberdrolas entry into a new state, Piauí (in which 10 of the 12 parks will be located). Furthermore, its construction will contribute to the economic and social development both in this state and its neighbouring Bahia, both in the north-east of Brazil, where it has already generated about 1,500 jobs.
The 12 parks will occupy a total area of 2.1 million m2 — six times the size of the Maracaná stadium — and have 103 wind turbines with a unit capacity of 5.5 MW, one of the most modern and efficient models in the world energy market. Each one will be 125 metres high, equivalent to a 40-storey building and its foundations will have a 79-tonne steel and concrete frame made up of 22 tonnes of cement and 1,000 tonnes of gravel and sand.
The turbine components, such as shovels and naceles, began to be delivered in December 2021 after a complex logistical challenge . In January, the company has started the assembly of the first wind turbines of the largest Neoenergia Wind Farm.
A 500 KV voltage substation and approximately 70 kilometres of transmission line are also advancing to guarantee the connection of the new wind complex to the Queimada Nova II substation in Piauí.
With its 566.5 MW of power, Oitis will secure its place on the world podium of the Iberdrola groups onshore wind farm complexes in terms of installed capacity, just behind the American company Peñascal in the state of Texas (606 MW), and just ahead of the Scottish Whitelee wind farm (539 MW), located south of Glasgow.
It will be able to supply around four million people — a population equivalent to that of the state of Paraíba — and prevent the emission of 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 over 20 years.
In addition, 102 km of access roads will be built, which will benefit the local population.
The energy generated at Oitis will mainly be used for trading on the free energy market. Two of the wind farms — Oitis 1 and 8 — are already guaranteed the sale of 30 % of the clean energy they will generate, after the auction organised by the Brazilian National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) in June 2020. The other 10 installations — Oitis 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 21 and 22 — will negotiate the sale of their electricity production on the market.
The group has already closed the sale of 67.6 % of the energy of both this complex and Chafariz by 2022.
Neoenergia currently has 516 MW of operational wind power and, counting the Oitis wind farm complex, 1,038 MW of wind power under construction. Once all the projects are completed, it will have an additional 1,600 MW of wind power in operation, which is equivalent to tripling the current figure. In addition, the sale of 51 % of this energy has already been agreed through regulated contracts, while the other 49 % will be placed on the free market. |
