Iberdrola launches 'Chafariz', its largest wind farm complex in Brazil

Iberdrola has completed the commissioning in Brazil of 'Chafariz', the energy company's largest wind farm complex in the country with a total installed capacity of 471 megawatts (MW), thus boosting the group's commitment to renewables in the South American country.

Located in the state of Paraíba, this 'mega-complex' consists of 15 wind farms. The first of these was commissioned in July last year, 17 months ahead of schedule, and the entire project has now been brought into operation.

'Chafariz' has 136 active wind turbines, one of the most modern and efficient models on the market with 65-metre-long blades, capable of supplying one million people per year.

The complex has already been assigned 61% of the energy it generates to the regulated market, while the remaining 39% will be sold on the Brazilian deregulated market (Ambiente de Contratación Libre).

With the start-up of 'Chafariz', the group chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán has almost doubled the wind power portfolio of Neoenergia, its subsidiary in Brazil, which plans to triple its portfolio of wind power assets in Brazil by the end of this year, to 1,600 MW, and to reach 90% of its installed capacity in renewables, according to company figures.

Iberdrola is also making progress in the construction of another wind power 'mega-complex' in the country, 'Oitis', which will have 12 wind farms located between the states of Piauí and Bahia.

With 567 MW of installed capacity - enough to power a city of 2.7 million inhabitants - Oitis will be Iberdrola's largest onshore wind project in Latin America and the second largest in the world. It is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The energy company's growth in renewable generation in Brazil has been driven by its investment efforts, after allocating 3.1 billion Brazilian reals (around 600 million euros) to green energy in the South American country last year, an increase of 246% over the previous year.

Of this, 2.8 billion reais (more than 540 million euros) went to wind projects. The new assets have boosted Neoenergia's wind power generation to 2,313 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the last year, a 23.16% increase.