Gamesa will be the designated supplier of wind turbines, totalling 258 MW of installed capacity, for nine wind farms Iberdrola Renovables will develop in Brazil.
Gamesa will supply a total of 129 wind turbines over the next two years (2011-2012), specifically its G8X turbine model, which features 2 MW of unit capacity. The contract calls for Gamesa to supply, transport and erect the turbines and perform start-up and maintenance work over a two-year period.
The agreement comes two days after Iberdrola Renovables, in a venture with Neoenergía – a Brazilian energy holding company part-owned by the Iberdrola Group – won a bid to build 258 MW of installed wind capacity in Brazil’s second tender process for the development of renewable energies. The tender was called by Brazil’s electricity industry authority, Agencia Nacional de Energía Elétrica (ANEEL).
Opening six new markets
The supply agreement is the first of Gamesa in Brazil, where the company recently opened its subsidiary in the Mercosur in Sao Paulo, and fits within the framework of Gamesa’s strategy for venturing into emerging markets that offer growth potential.
As part of this strategy, Gamesa has disembarked in six new markets in Europe, Latin America and Africa this year alone.
A growing presence in Latin America
Gamesa also has a significant presence in Latin America, where it has installed more than 200 MW of wind energy in five countries and has more than 1,100 MW under contract in Honduras, Mexico and Costa Rica.
A consortium made up of Gamesa (76%) and Iberdrola Ingeniería y Construcción in July obtained a contract to build a Honduran wind farm (Cerro de Hula) with installed capacity of 102 MW.
Additionally, the company this year signed a long-term agreement (10 years) to supply 100% of the turbines for wind farms which Cannon Power Group is set to develop in Mexico’s Baja California (combined installed capacity of 1,000 MW).
