Brazil wants to bring forward the start-up of 1GW of wind projects by three to four months as part of a programme to bolster supplies in the face of possible power rationing because of dwindling hydro reservoirs.

The Mines and Energy Ministry and power regulator Aneel will speed up authorisations, licenses and grid-connection protocols, Élbia Silva Gannoum, executive president of the Brazilian Wind Power Association (ABEEólica) told Recharge.

Gannoum met with officials from the Mines and Energy Ministry last week to detail the plan.

“There are several projects that are ready and waiting for authorisation, or that are near completion, which could start operating before the scheduled date if processes are speeded up,” she said.

The wind farms are located in the northeastern states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte and Piauí, ABEEólica said.

As of the end of February there were 252 wind farms in Brazil with a combined installed capacity is 6.2GW. Of those, 5.6GW are operating commercially and 600MW are either undergoing tests or waiting for grid connection.

Construction of several other wind farms is near completion and could be accelerated, according to ABEEólica. By the end of the year some 3.8GW is projected to start commercial operations.

Wind is growing in importance in Brazil, accounting for 4.6% of total installed capacity.

In terms of supply, the operational wind farms account for around 3%. But the amount of power generated is often 50% to 90% above the projections for wind by the National Grid Operator (ONS) because of high capacity factors.

Hydro, which historically has supplied around 70% of Brazil's power needs, has declined to around 65% as a two-year drought has depleted reservoirs, which now stand at about 30% as Brazil prepares to enter its dry season within a few months.

Gannoum said that the 1GW of wind power could come on line from August onwards, instead of at the end of the year.

This period coincides with the period when winds are stronger, which boosts capacity factors to more than 40% on average in Brazil.

“This bolsters further the importance of wind power in Brazil in a period of power crunch,” said Gannoum.

She added that developers have said they can speed up their construction schedules if bureaucracy is also accelerated.

Additionally, developers have a commercial incentive to starting operating before the start of the regulated market PPAs they signed at auctions. Power can be sold on the spot market at prices three to four times higher that the regulated market contracts.

Current spot market prices stand at around R$380/MWh ($115), while average wind power prices in long-term PPAs are roughly R$120/MWh.