Equivalent to a 25-story building, equipment came from the city of Qinhuangdao, in China, to the port of Suape, in Pernambuco, from where they continued their journey in trucks to Oitis, located in Piauí and Bahia. The transportation lasted 60 days. 

The first blades that will form the wind turbines of the Oitis Neoenergia Wind Farm have just arrived at the company's largest complex. 

Transported from China to Brazil, the first blades that will compose the wind turbines of the Oitis Neoenergia Wind Farm, located in Piauí and Bahia, and the company's largest wind farm. Other giant components of the turbines and transformers have also started to arrive at the project, anticipating the schedule foreseen in the business plan. Neoenergia expects to start assembling the equipment this year and to start commercial operations in 2022. 

At 77.4 meters long, the equivalent of a 25-story building, the first blades received at construction sites crossed continents between the city of Qinhuangdao, in China, and the port of Suape, in Pernambuco. From there, they will be taken in trucks measuring 54 meters in length over a 900-kilometer route to Oitis. This process takes an average of 60 days and will be repeated 19 times for imported components. The airgenerators are model GE 158, with a unit capacity of 5.5 MW, one of the most modern and efficient models in the market. 

“This stage of the works requires long planning, which began six months ago so that it can happen safely for our employees and suppliers. We need to plan all the logistics from the factory to the parks, including the opening of 35 kilometers of road to access the project, which will remain as a benefit for the local population.", explains William Carneiro, Renewables Construction manager at Neoenergia. 

The nacelles – compartments that house the power generator – also began to be delivered for the assembly of the turbines. These components are 14 meters long and weigh 75.4 tons. They were manufactured in Camaçari, Bahia, and transported in 26-meter trucks along 738 kilometers of roads to Oitis. 

The nacelles are installed in the towers, at 125.4 meters high, comparable to the height of a 40-story building. This structure is built on concrete foundations, 90% of which have already been completed. The assembly of each wind turbine, with all these structures, takes an average of five days and involves the work of around 35 professionals. Altogether, the turbines with the blades will have 205 meters, the average height of a 64-story building. 

In addition to wind turbines, the operation of the wind farm requires large-scale equipment such as transformers, which are responsible for raising energy tension to levels suitable for transmission to consumer centers. Neoenergia acquired three pieces of equipment for the Oitis substation, which will be connected by a 70-kilometer transmission line to the Queimada Nova II (PI) substation – connected to the National Interconnected System (SIN). The first was delivered in November. 

Clean energy and social and environmental benefits 

Neoenergia's new project will have 566.5 MW of installed capacity in 12 parks, enough to supply a city with 2.7 million inhabitants. With the completion of Oitis and Chafariz – a wind farm that is being installed in Paraíba –, the company will reach 1.6 GW of installed wind capacity, in line with its commitments with the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS) and the ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategy. 

“We are maintaining the accelerated pace of construction in Oitis and Chafariz, anticipating schedule forecasts. In Chafariz, in the third quarter, we started operating 53 wind turbines, which add up to 184 MW of the total installed capacity of 471.2 MW, which has contributed to the supply of clean energy for the Brazilian electrical system in such an important period.", says Aries. 

In both projects, Neoenergia invests in initiatives that generate benefits for the regions, such as holding training courses and generating employment and income. For the works at Chafariz, around 1,400 jobs were created and, in Oitis, there should be 1,500, with around 40% of local labor in both.