Representatives and specialist stood out (Tuesday 18), during public hearing in the Environment Committee, how important is to the Country using renewable energy, eg wind energy. In the hearing was discussed the results of the 1st Auction on Wind Energy in Brazil.

The auction occurred in December 2009 and will result in building 71 projects which will produce roughly 1 800 megawatts of power. Wind plants are spread through the states of Sergipe, Bahia, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Rio Grande do Sul. Exploring energy in new wind parks will take place in 2012 and last for 20 years.

The next auction, which will occur in August, will include 478 proposals for power generation, including wind, biomass and small hydroelectric plants. Exploring it will be based on a plan providing production of 14 600 megawatts from 2010 to 2019, similar value of the Itaipu plant. From such 10 500 megawatts will be derived only from wind parks, which will total 399 proposals.

Fernando Marroni said the auction of 2009 was a victory for the Country and represented an evolution: "Brazil got a good institutional importance, easing a new age to develop wind energy. This ensure to investors that companies will settle here.’

Benefícios
The president of the Empresa de Pesquisa Energética do Ministério de Minas e Energia (Energy Research Corporation of the Ministry of Mines and Energy), Mauricio Tolmasquim, said that wind energy has as main advantages the low cost to operate and the can be a help to hydroelectric power during draught.

"The main barriers we overthrew with such auction, and now the trend is to develop this sector. We have got, of course, measure the wind’, he observed.

Reporting –Felipe Néri/Rádio Câmara
Edition – Pitella Junior
Translation - Grupo Solucion-SP Language/Edgar Casadei