Last year, the French renewable energy company, Voltalia started its wind farm construction in Serra Branca cluster, Brazil. Now, the wind farms are fully functional and have a capacity of 128MW.
All the projects in Brazil
Voltalia has a total of four wind turbine projects in Serra Branca, VSM1, VSM2, VSM3, and VSM4. Also, the total capacity of Voltalia in Brazil is expected to be 2.4 GW including solar energy. Currently, the VSM2 is fully operational with 152MW turbines. The VSM3 is expected to start its operations by June 2021.
As per their announcement given last year, the VSM4 will have a capacity of 59MW. Around 17 turbines are expected to be provided by Nordex Group.
So far, the current operational capacity of Voltalia’s renewable energy is 897 MW, where 273 MW is being sold to third parties.
The CEO of Voltalia is Sebastien Clerc, gave a statement to the press, “The power generated today at Serra Branca is equivalent to the consumption of more than 4.9 million people, and this number will increase soon when projects in construction and ready-to-build will be completed.”
Going according to the plan
Most of the contracts Voltalia has are based on long-term contracts like 10 years or 20 years. The price is set at a constant rate, hence it is convenient for companies to prefer Voltalia power rather than traditional coal-based electricity.
As per their plan, they aim to provide 7MW to local power distribution by 2023. And 52 MW for private companies. The local power distribution contract is for 20 years, and the supply is expected to start by July 2021. With the private companies, the current contract is short-term.
Besides the quality of power they supply, the CEO is also working on providing a better environment for workers. Last year he spoke about the concerns on environmental issues.
Other global projects
The Voltalia is a global company, working not only on wind turbines and solar but also on bio. Their battery storage capacity in a town names Mana, France is based on Bio. On occasions where the power is not available through solar or wind, such alternatives come in handy.
The CEO of voltalia spoke about the Bio innovation last year as follows. “With 29 megawatts in operation and under construction in French Guiana (biomass, hydroelectricity, ground and roof-mounted solar power, storage). Voltalia is a key player in the local energy landscape. Its activity also has a structuring effect on the economy, particularly in the biomass sector, which is at the heart of a strategic sector for French Guiana. Our new storage facility makes it possible to take advantage of renewable energies even when climatic conditions do not allow production. In French Guiana, thanks to the drop in the cost of renewable technologies and batteries. It is now possible to avoid burning polluting fossil fuels that are more expensive than renewables. I would like to warmly thank our teams who, despite numerous difficulties due to the sanitary context, have successfully built the largest battery storage system in France.”
Voltalia is one of the largest players in the renewable energy sector, they already have the largest battery production sector in France, with their successful operations in Brazil, there might be other operations coming up in other countries.