Brazil’s wind power industry said it faces a challenging outlook as projects are delayed due to lower electricity demand while new licensing rounds by the government are in doubt.
Vesta Wind Systems estimated Brazil’s production capacity for wind turbines is around 3.5 to 4 gigawatts per year but last year only around 1 gigawatt of new projects was addied in the Latin American country.
So far this year no new licences have been awarded for wind parks.
Brazil was a late entrant to the wind power sector. It had relied on massive hydroelectric dams, which left the country in trouble three years ago after a harsh drought depleted reservoirs.
The government gave incentives to speed up development of alternative energy sources such as wind, which allowed for a manufacturing base to be quickly formed.
Brazil’s power demand, which grew on average 4.5 percent per year in the decade until 2014, fell 2 percent in 2015. It is expected to fall another 0.5 percent this year while the country struggles to resume economic growth.
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