Iberdrola Renovables and Neoenergia agree to jointly develop wind energy in Brazil

Iberdrola Renovables, with more than 11,400 MW of installed capacity at the end the first half of 2010, already owns a Brazilian wind farm, Río do Fogo, with installed capacity of 49 MW.

Iberdrola Renovables, the world’s leading wind power company, and Neoenergia, a Brazilian energy holding company part owned by the Iberdrola Group, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) whereby they vow to work together to develop and jointly operate onshore and offshore wind turbines in Brazil.

The goal of the agreement is to capitalise on the experience of the world leader in the wind industry and the market position of the top power distributor in north-eastern Brazil, with its 8.8 million customers. Similarly, the agreement aims to leverage the both companies’ financial strength to drive growth in one of Latin America’s most promising wind markets.

Within the framework of the agreement, Iberdrola Renovables and Neoenergia, which are considering eventually forming a 50-50 joint venture, commit to bid together on tenders issued by Brazil’s Agencia Nacional de Energía Eléctrica, including the 2010 Reserve Energy and A-3 2010 programmes.

Iberdrola Renovables currently has one wind farm in Brazil, the Río do Fogo farm in the state of Río Grande do Norte. The site has installed capacity of 49 MW.

The company also has assets in Mexico at the La Ventosa (80 MW) wind farm, which is in operation, and the La Venta III (103 MW) site, which is under construction. It ended the first half of 2010 with installed capacity totalling 11,406 MW: 11,010 MW in wind farms and 342 MW in small-scale hydroelectric plants.

Iberdrola Renovables has 5,194 MW of installed wind energy capacity in Spain (a total of 5,536 MW from renewable sources, including mini-hydro power stations) and a further 5,516 MW abroad (3,877 MW in the US, 816 MW in the UK and 1,123 MW elsewhere).

Iberdrola Renovables generated net profit of €158.1 million in the first half of 2010, up 6.5% year-on-year, as it continued to improve its financial position, illustrated by gearing of just 28%.

Iberdrola in Brazil, through Neoenergia

Iberdrola regards Brazil, where it has operated since the late 1990s, as one of the key countries in its Latin American expansion. Through Neoenergia, Iberdrola is the leading electricity distributor in north-eastern Brazil, accounting for more than 44% of the regional market at the end of 2009.

The distributors in which Iberdrola holds stakes, Cosern (Rio Grande state), Celpe (Pernambuco state) and Coelba (Bahía state) supplied 28,300 GWh to nearly 8.8 million users in 2009. As for the generation business, the company managed capacity of 1,340 MW last year, with attributable output exceeding 2.85 billion kWh.

Iberdrola Renovables will be the Iberdrola Group subsidiary assigned to develop the content of the MOU the company just signed with Neoenergia, in accordance with the framework contract signed by the renewable energy unit and the parent company on 5 November 2007.

www.iberdrolarenovables.es