Seven wind farms totalling 168MW have begun tests ahead of commercial operation in Brazil’s northeast– starting a process that will eliminate the last major transmission bottleneck in the country's wind sector.

Power regulator Aneel authorised the start of tests at the Macacos 1 complex – made up of the Pedra Preta, Macacos and Costa Branca plants of 20.7MW each, and the 16.1MW Juremas facility.

They sold power in the renewables auction of 2010 and should have come online in early 2014.

Macacos was ready in April this year, but has been awaiting conclusion of the João Câmara 3 substation by ETN, a unit of federal power company Chesf. The grid link was concluded at the end of October.

The wind farms are all controlled by renewables company CPFL Energias Renováveis, including two that it recently incorporated in a joint-venture with local developer DESA.

The time lag between starting tests and commercial commissioning is around a month in Brazil.

Aneel also cleared tests to begin at Campos dos Ventos 2, Eurus 1 and Eurus 3, all 30MW, the last two formerly owned by DESA.

Those plants are also connected through the same substation and had sold power at the reserve auction of 2010. They should have come online in January 2013.

Several other wind farms linked to the João Câmara 3 substation should come enter service in the next few weeks, eliminating the last big transmission bottleneck for wind power in Brazil.

More than 800MW of wind will eventually be linked to the grid via the same connection.

Since 2013, the government has changed its auction rules to ensure that all winning projects have guaranteed grid connection.

This year Brazil decided to auction transmission lines ahead of power auctions to ensure a smoother expansion of the country's wind power capacity.

Siemens supplied the turbines for the Macacos complex.

Wobben (Enercon) supplied the turbines for Campos dos Ventos 2 and GE supplied the machines for Eurus 1 and 3.