24 Aug 2011
The Brazilian authorities have this week confirmed that wind power in the country currently costs less than natural gas, after a series of energy auctions saw wind farm operators undercut other forms of energy generation.
Seventy-eight wind power projects won contracts in last week's energy auctions held by Brazil's National Electric Power Agency, totalling 1,928MW and priced at approximately 99.5 reals (£37.4) per MWh.
By comparison, the average price for power generated with natural gas is currently 103 reals (£38.7) per MWh in Brazil, while the average price for energy determined through the auctions was 102.07 reals per MWh.
According to Brazil's Energy Research Company (EPE), wind power is also now trading around 19 per cent cheaper per MWh than the average price in Brazil last year, suggesting the price of the technology is becoming a more competitive.
EPE president and chief executive Mauricio Tolmasquim said the auctions show that wind and natural gas are competitive, predicting wind prices will continue to fall in Brazil.
"That wind power plants have been contracted at two digit prices, below 100 reals per MWh, showcases the energy market competition through auctions," he said. "That wind power could reach these lows versus natural gas was unimaginable until recently."
The energy auctions for a total of 92 projects were the first in Brazil for 2011, and also featured biomass, hydro-electric and natural gas projects.
Investments amounted to 11.2bn reals in total, for 3,962MW of energy that is slated to start generating in 2014.
EPE has predicted that Brazil's windpower potential of 143GW could rise to 300GW with the use of better turbine technology. However, it also expects Brazil's total power consumption to rise 60 per cent between 2010 and 2020, reflecting the country's rapid economic growth and expanding middle class.
But despite the positive outlook for wind, underpinned by tax breaks and strong wind resources, some analysts have expressed doubts that the sector can meet the government's targets.
Adriano Pires, an energy expert with the Brazilian Centre for Infrastructure, told Reuters that a 2004 scheme which offered to buy wind power at higher rates than other types of generation might have spurred a naive optimism for the sector.
"Brazil has a history of euphoria when it comes to power generation," he said. "Right now wind power is the darling of the government, but that doesn't mean it's going to be sustainable in the long run."
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WHAT DO YOU THINK? Add your comment
Available wind power in Brazil is huge
Brazil has very strong trade winds. Along its shoreline, there's huge wind availability. Brazil's northern shore has very strong winds exactly in the drought season. So it's a great complement to Hydro power. In other states wind is still very strong in the shore.
Posted by Marcelo Pacheco, 30 Aug 2011
Who's trolling who?
Bill. Me - a "wind troll"? This is a website for green news, you dummy! The only troll I can see is the one who constantly interrupts other people's sharing of thoughts, news and information to spread false stories about windpower (like when you quoted that Nat Grid report which turned out to be the wrong report and didn't quite say what you wanted it to say). Truth is, I don't work for anybody. But I've run into several NIMBY groups who tell loud and rather obvious lies about windpower and I know only too well the harm that such people are doing to the national interest. You know the sort - the idiot brigade who complain about the "costs" of wind farms and then insist that they're all built offshore. It doesn't take much work to find out just how untrue all their anti-wind stories are. Same as yours.
Posted by WillH, 29 Aug 2011
Facts
WillH. And up pops the wind troll - who do you work for then? Yes I love quoting such wild anti-wind organisations such as DECC, Ofgem (who provided the figures for the referenced article) and National Grid. You should start reading REF reports. Much of what they have been saying for the last five years, building on expert opinion and the experience of countries with large wind capacities, is now being accepted by National Grid and others who are not blinded by the faith position you have adopted.
Posted by Bill, 26 Aug 2011
Here we go again
Come on, Bill - isn't it about time you admitted that you're obsessed with REF (you don't work for them by any chance, do you?) You were the one who attacked one of the world's leading pioneers in wind energy because he spent time with the American Wind Energy Association - you accused him of "propaganda" - and yet you'll gladly quote a biased, foolish and irrelevant lobbying organisation like REF as if their reports really meant something. Do you honestly believe that you can convert conscientious, serious-minded people to your own blinkered and extremist views by continually attacking anyone who sees the necessity, the beauty and the sense in wind power? What exactly are you in this for? And when are you going to examine the evidence properly, rather than relying only on the most biased, incomplete and inaccurate information you can find?
Posted by WillH, 26 Aug 2011
Facts please
Dan McDougall. Do you actually believe what you write? Gas has peaked? Absolute rubbish - The International Energy Agency (IEA) was saying at the beginning of the year that reserves will probably have to be revised upwards from 60 years to 250 years at current levels thanks to "unconventional gas" reserves and new discoveries. We will need all the gas there is due to current wind policy which depends on the construction of large numbers of new gas-fuelled power stations (17GW of new capacity in the next 6 years according the National Grid). Your claim that, "The average wind speed in any given geographic region doesn't go up or down much year-over-year" is just not true. Suggest you actually look at output figures reported to Ofgem, or read REF's article on 'Wind Performance 2010', which has some interesting graphs on annual wind outputs: http://www.ref.org.uk/publications/217-low-wind-power-output-2010 What are these "proper storage mechanisms", and how much do they cost? It is also worth noting that average annual load factors are pretty useless if wind is incapable of delivering during periods of high load over much of Western Europe as has repeatedly happened in recent winters.
Posted by Bill, 25 Aug 2011
What they won't tell you...
Here's what they refuse to tell you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_2LpLhOsc4
Posted by The Watch, 24 Aug 2011
Natural gas is unreliable
This is good because the availability and price of natural gas is unreliable. A huge amount of natural gas wells may go online as a result of as-yet-unknown deposit discoveries but it probably won't happen. The truth is that fossil fuel availability (in the market) has peaked and will become more and more unreliable as time goes on. Wind, on the other hand is fairly predictable. The average wind speed in any given geographic region doesn't go up or down much year-over-year. Not even over millenia. So with proper energy storage mechanisms wind is extremely reliable and, most importantly, renewable.
Posted by Dan McDougall, 24 Aug 2011
Wind energy is less reliable
Wind energy can't fetch the same prices as natural gas since it is highly unreliable.
Posted by Anonymous, 24 Aug 2011
scale
That is nice to know, however you can't scale wind energy on demand like you can natural gas. Not to mention there are only so many places in the world to put a wind turbine. I am not opposed to wind power, it is great, but it can only supplement.
Posted by Lindsey, 24 Aug 2011
reals
The correct plural to "real" is "reais", not "reals".
Posted by Kodapa, 24 Aug 2011
subsidies
great news! I wonder how much (if at all) the Brazilian government is subsidizing it.
Posted by ryan, 24 Aug 2011