The projects will compete for 20-year power purchase agreements. Delivery of energy will begin 1 January 2018.

Since Brazilian power auctions began in 2009, wind projects have accounted for 61% of 18.9GW registered. Other technologies include biomass, gas-fired thermoelectric gas plants and small-scale hydropower.

“Once again, wind power stands out with a large number of projects registered, showing that it will continue to grow within Brazil's power mix”, says Maurício Tolmasquim, president of federal energy planning authority EPE.

With 6GW in operation, wind accounts for 4% of Brazil's 137GW installed capacity. By 2019, wind power should add another 11GW contracted in recent auctions.

The government still needs to publish a final listing of qualified projects and definite auction rules including cap prices.

For the upcoming auction, the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte accounted for 3.1GW of proposed wind capacity divided between 310 wind projects.

Second is the state of Bahia, also in the northeast, with 2.5GW capacity and 105 projects. Ceará came in third with 2.3GW capacity and 91 projects.

In the new wind districts of Piauí and Paraíba – also in the northeastern region – developers registered 896MW capacity among 30 projects and 238MW for eight projects, respectively.

Developers registered another 2.1GW capacity among 93 projects in outhern Rio Grande do Sul.

The Brazilian Wind Power Association (ABEEolica) estimates that developers in Brazil have a combined project portfolio of 20GW. It expects 4GW to be contracted in 2015 at different auctions.

The industry expects higher prices in the next auction that the A-3 auction last year, which was $139/MWh ($48/MWh). This will be due to greater inflation, foreign exchange fluctuations and high risk assumed by developers in bidding rules.

In the separate alternative power sources auction (LFA) scheduled for 27 April, developers registered a total of 12.9GW capacity among 570 wind projects which will have to come online by 2017.