Wind energy in Brazil: Piauí has largest wind farm under construction in South America

The wind farm will have the capacity to generate 3.3 TWh per year and will prevent the emission of over 1.6 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Piauí is among the largest clean energy producers in Brazil, ranking fifth among the largest wind energy producers in the country. Just as the state produces energy, it also generates jobs in several areas and life improvement opportunities for the people of Piaui. The good winds from the northeast region, considered constant and stable, have contributed to the excellent performance: Piauí produces 1638,10 megawatts (MW) of wind power.

To make all this energy production possible, thousands of workers working in both wind farms and factories of wind turbines that supply equipment are responsible for moving the productive sector, generating economic growth in the municipalities where the companies are located, with Nordex / Triggers.

Inaugurated in 2018, the Nordex / Acciona wind tower factory is located in Lagoa do Barro municipality, 540 km from Teresina, manufactures concrete towers and supplies equipment for use in Piauí wind farms. More than 400 jobs were created with the company’s installation in the region. For Atlantic company, which owns the structure of the Lagoa do Barro Wind Complex, it has already manufactured 65 towers, which has eight parks and an installed capacity of 195 MW (megawatts), spread over an area of ??2,854 hectares.

The prosperity of wind power in the state has been changing the lives of Bruno Amorim, a resident of Queimada Nova, neighboring Lagoa do Barro, who is now a quality assistant at the factory. He says he had only worked informally before and was the first opportunity to work with a formal contract. “This wind project here in the region was my first opportunity to work in a signed portfolio. I’m really enjoying working here, learning new things that I wouldn’t learn, because informal jobs often prevail in the city. From now on, I hope to finish this project and continue on others, ”says Bruno.

Nordex / Acciona has been installed for over a year in the city of Lagoa do Barro and, in addition to producing equipment for the Atlantic company, also manufactures inputs for the other state parks, which will not need to import the 120m towers that support the propellers. and the wind generator.

The tower coordinator José Maria Melo explains the projects carried out by the factory and the jobs generated. “We started the project by producing concrete towers for Atlantic and shortly after the end of this project we started the new stage, which is Lagoa dos Ventos, another very bold project, reaching four times more than was already produced in the first project, with more than 409 people were hired and the company expects to hire more and reach 450 people connected to the concrete towers manufacturing process. It is expected that this project will be installed in a half year, ”says Melo.

Currently, the factory is producing another 230 towers for the Lagoa dos Ventos Wind Complex, which is being built by Enel Green Power Brazil (EGP) in the municipalities of Lagoa do Barro, Queimada Nova and Dom Inocencio.