Brazil's Vale announced Friday that it has entered in a consortium agreement with Australian renewable energy company Pacific Hydro to build and operate two wind farms in northeast Brazil. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies with each have a 50 percent ownership of both wind farms, which are expected to be completed by late 2014. The projects will represent an investment of approximately R$650 million (US$315 million).
The wind farms will be located in Rio Grandedo Norte and have already been granted all necessary environmental permits. Vale will be the sole off-taker of clean electricity produced by the projects for a period of 20 years, utilizing 100 percent of its generation as self-production for its operations.
According Executive Director of Human Resources, Health and Safety, Sustainability and Energy of Vale, Vânia Somavilla, this is the company's first venture into wind energy and represents an important step for increasing the use of clean and renewable sources in Vale's energy matrix.
"Vale's global demand for electricity is expected to increase 150 percent by 2020 and we've been seeking options to meet this demand, on a sustainable way, using renewable sources such as hydro, wind and biomass. The option to develop wind projects also helps diversify our energy matrix, reduce our emissions and ensure cost competiveness in the long term," she said.