The Brazilian Northeast subsystem will be able to export some 13 GW of wind power to other regions of the country by 2023, according to Flavio Guimaraes Lins, executive manager of the Northeast Regional Operation Centre of the National Electric System Operator (ONS).
Speaking at Brazil Windpower 2018, held last week in Sao Paulo, he said that at the moment an entire transmission grid revamp is being prepared in the Northeast to allow the flow of power generation as the current infrastructure is not prepared for the capacity increase planned for the coming years.
The National Wind Energy Association (ABEEolica) expects Brazil to reach 19.9 GW of installed wind generation capacity by 2023. This increase comes with some challenges for the country.
The lack of adequate transmission capacity, the over-reliance on public policies, the intermittency of wind and the large costs of export are some of the key obstacles to wind energy investment in the country at present, according to panellists during the last day of Brazil Windpower.
According to Rosana Santos, Product and Marketing Director of GE Wind Onshore, equipment makers and power producers need to start working more closely with each other in order to address the issue of intermittency. Thus creating improving the optimization of the equipment, allowing for a better energy production and flow.
On a related matter, Brazil Windpower discussions revolved around the topic of wind equipment exports from Brazil. Currently, the sector is too focused on national demand and obsessed by public policies, which in the long term will be detrimental.
Joao Paulo G. da Silva, Wind Energy Director of Brazilian electrical equipment manufacturer WEG SA (BVMF:WEGE3), pointed out that the biggest problem for the lack of export is the high logistics cost, especially for the special cargo category where wind equipment falls.
It is also very important for the sector to start the development of new solutions for installation of the turbines as towers and nacelles keep getting larger and larger, pointed out Marcelo Bellotti, General Purchasing Manager for Latin America for Wobben/Enercon. The company is working on a new crane already.
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The Ventos da Bahia wind farm (183 MW). Source: EDF Energies Nouvelles
