ACCIONA Windpower, the ACCIONA Group subsidiary dedicated to the design, manufacture and sale of wind turbines, has reached agreement with Atlantic Energias Renováveis and the British private equity firm Actis to supply 195 megawatts (MW) –sixty-five 3 MW turbines– for a wind power complex located in the State of Piauí (northest Brazil).The project, developed through a joint venture between Atlantic and Actis, one of Atlantic’s shareholders, consists of eight wind farms: Lagoa do Barro I-VII and Queimada Nova.

With this contract, ACCIONA Windpower reaches 1,020 MW sold of its AW3000 wind turbine in Brazil, since it started marketing it in 2012.

The model selected in this contract is the AW125/3000, which has a rotor diameter of 125 meters. It is designed to optimize energy capture on sites with medium-speed prevailing winds in the area where the complex will be installed. The turbines will be mounted on 120-meter-high concrete towers.

The production associated with this project was awarded to Atlantic in the A-5 auction organized by the Brazilian Government in November 2014.

Supply of the wind turbines will begin in 2017, with the aim of the complex becoming operational in the second semester of 2018.The agreement establishes that ACCIONA Windpower will operate and maintain the installation for 15 years.

“We are very pleased with this new agreement with Atlantic, which highlights the confidence of major players in the Brazilian wind power sector in our turbine, and the suitability of our product to give the best response to the needs of wind power developers”, says ACCIONA Windpower Brasil Director Christiano Forman.

Local Components

The main components of the wind turbines to be supplied under this contract will be manufactured in Brazil. The nacelles will be assembled in the new plant ACCIONA Windpower has opened in Simões Filho (Bahía) and the concrete towers will be assembled on site, with the segments manufactured in a company facility located nearby.

The blades and other equipment will also be purchased in Brazil. This means that the company complies with the requirements regarding national production of components established by the BNDES (Brazilian National Development Bank) to finance the purchase of wind turbines under more favorable conditions than in the market.