Casa dos Ventos, one of the pioneers and largest investors in wind project development in Brazil, signed a long-term renewable energy purchase and sale contract with Anglo American, one of the world's largest mining companies. The mining company will become a partner in the Rio do Vento wind farms (504 MW), located in Rio Grande do Norte, becoming the first unit in the group to be self-producing energy.
The partnership with Anglo American is the largest volume of renewable energy purchase between a final consumer and a generator in Brazil: 95 MW on average. The agreement, which has a term of 20 years from 2022, will be responsible for supplying around 30% of all the energy consumed by the mining company's plants in the country.
We developed a new model, where we assume the construction and operation risks of the project and, once it starts operating, the customer can exercise the option to become a partner in the plant and become self-producing
explained Lucas Araripe, Director of New Business at Casa dos Ventos. By becoming self-producers of their energy, companies reduce their costs with the exemption of sectoral charges.
With an investment of R$ 2.4 billion, Rio do Vento is formed by eight Special Purpose Societies (SPE) - three of which are intended to meet Anglo American's consumption - which enables agreements with companies of different sizes and sectors. Recently, Casa dos Ventos announced two more contracts for the same project: the Brazilian multinational technology company Tivit and the footwear manufacturer Vulcabras Azaleia. "Rio do Vento is a large condominium where various companies benefit from the economies of scale of the project, a privilege that was restricted to large self-producers and which we have expanded to other companies," said Araripe.
Rio do Vento has 120 V150-4.2 MW turbines from the Danish company Vestas, the world leader in wind turbine manufacturing, and is located in the municipalities of Caiçara do Rio do Vento, Riachuelo, Ruy Barbosa and Bento Fernandes. Commercial operation is expected for the second half of 2021.
Rio do Vento will have its capacity doubled. Casa dos Ventos is eyeing the expansion of the wind complex and has already started negotiations for the expansion of Rio do Vento. In the second phase (Rio do Vento II), the project will have its installed capacity doubled, reaching over 1 GW and becoming one of the largest in the world. "Rio do Vento is a unique project. The winds that blow in the region are intense and constant, a characteristic that allows us to work with contracts and tariffs that are much more competitive," said Araripe. The predictability of tariffs in long-term contracts is also an attractive feature for companies, which protects them from price volatility.
In addition to its duplication, the company is studying the hybridization of the project, combining two clean and renewable sources: wind and sun. "In the second phase, we will take advantage of the entire structure of the first and have a single, more competitive cluster with optimized operation," concluded Araripe.
The company is also developing another 350 MW project in Bahia, also targeting long-term corporate contracts.
The Casa dos Ventos is one of the pioneers and largest investors in the development of wind projects in Brazil. With over ten years in the market, it is responsible for the development of the largest number of projects that have commercialized energy in regulated auctions and in the free contracting environment in the country. In addition to having developed approximately 30% of all enterprises under implementation or operation in the country, the company holds the largest portfolio of wind projects in Brazil. The company's wind projects are located in Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Bahia, and Piauí.
