BP unit finishes 420MW Brazilian wind park and aims to double capacity through hybrid plan
Brazil's onshore wind sector continues to grow even as PAE installs the last of 94 Vestas wind turbines
BP-controlleds Pan American Energy (PAE) has concluded the first phase of construction on a planned 800MW wind and solar power complex in Brazil.
The company, in which Argentina’s founding Bulgheroni family still hold a 25% stake through Bridas Corporation, is primarily a producer of oil and gas, but has been expanding into renewables and lithium production.
The first phase of the Novo Horizonte renewables park involved the installation of a total capacity of 423MW, plus new and expanded substations and an 80-kilometre high tension transmission line.
PAE ordered 94 V150-45NW wind turbines from Vestas in 2022.
The onshore wind park is located in the state of Bahia and is the result of BRL3bn ($540m) of investment, financed largely through national and regional development banks in Brazil, according to a statement by PAE.
Those attending an inauguration ceremony included Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy Alexandre Silveira.
Pan American CEO Marcos Bulgheroni, who also attended, said PAE is aiming to play a significant role in the energy transition in the region and said the start up of operations at the new Brazilian wind park represented a “significant and real step in this direction.”
PAE, which has its headquarters in Buenos Aires, plans to expand renewable energy production near the Novo Horizonte complex through the installation of a large scale solar energy park there.
According to PAE’s director-general for Brazil, Alejandro Catalano, the company aims to reach 800MW of installed capacity by investing in a hybrid renewables park.
"We’ve managed to execute a big project and we want to make it even bigger,” he said.
In addition to Argentina and Brazil, PAE has subsidiaries in Mexico, Bolívia, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The company so far has 200MW of installed wind capacity in Argentina, focused in the Patagonia region.
BP backtrack?
UK oil supermajor BP has a 50% stake in PAE, but may be backtracking from renewable investments of the kind that its Argentine subsidiary has just made in Brazil.
BP has not confirmed such a decision to retrench on renewables, but the company had already said that any future wind investments in the offshore sector would need to be linked to a broader integrated energy strategy including the likes of EV charging or green hydrogen production.
China’s CNOOC also has a 25% stake in PAE.
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