The Diplomat
The chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, yesterday made a commitment to Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to invest 30 billion reais (around 5.3 billion reais) in Brazil in three years.
According to the Spanish electricity company, Galán made this announcement during a visit to the company’s first hybrid complex in Brazil, where he was accompanied by Lula da Silva, to whom he assured that the company would be a “faithful” ally in the country’s energy transition.
The committed investments are aimed at continuing to develop new renewable and grid projects, as well as making the most of the opportunities offered by technologies such as offshore wind and green hydrogen.
The Neoenergia Renewable Energy Complex that Galán and Lula visited yesterday integrates wind and solar energy generation in the country for the first time, thanks to the Chafariz wind farm and the Luzia photovoltaic plant.
With an investment of 630 million euros, it will supply clean energy to 1.3 million homes, with an output of 600 megawatts (MW), which will prevent the emission of more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
The facility consists of 15 wind farms with a total of 136 wind turbines -with an installed capacity of 471.2 MW- and two Neoenergia Luzia solar plants with 228,000 panels and an installed capacity of 149.2 MWp.
“Making projects like this a reality requires political leadership capable of establishing long-term planning, a clear energy policy and stable and encouraging regulation”, commented Iberdrola’s chairman.
In addition, according to Iberdrola, the complex has also generated socio-economic benefits for the region, training around 180 people as bricklayers, carpenters and blacksmiths and training another 150 people to assemble metal structures for solar panels.
In turn, of the more than 3,600 direct and indirect jobs created, 40% have been filled by local workers.
