Petrobras' 424M-reais, 104-MW Mangue Seco Wind Farm now commercially operating in Rio Grande do Norte, Northeastern Brazil

Graziela Medina Shepnick

RIO DE JANEIRO , November 2, 2011 (press release) – Petrobras announces that the Potiguar, Cabugi, Juruti and Mangue Seco wind power plants, which make up the Mangue Seco Wind Farm, are now commercially operating in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Northeastern Brazil. With a total investment of R$424 million, Petrobras' first Wind Power Plant kicked off commercial operations eight months earlier than the Company had agreed on with Aneel (the Brazilian Power Regulator).

The 20 year power sale agreements were contracted during the first wind power auction, held in December 2009. The 2009 auction forecast that the energy generated by the plants would be supplied to the National Interconnected System from July 1 2012, but Petrobras advanced the schedule and the entire plant is in commercial operation as of today (November 1st), after the last plant, Juriti, went online. The Potiguar plant has been operating since August 26, 2011, while Cabuji and Mangue Seco since September 24, 2011 and October 6, 2011, respectively.

Neighboring the Potiguar Clara Camarão Refinery, next to the RN 221 Highway, in Guamaré, the plants are fitted with 52 2-megawatt (MW) aerogenerators each. The Mangue Seco Wind Power Part has the biggest installed capacity in Brazil operating with this type of aerogenerator (104 MW), which is enough to supply a population of 350,000 people.

Each aerogenerator weighs approximately 300 tons and comprises a concrete and steel tower measuring 108 meters in height and three sets of 42-meter long fiberglass blades. Each unit's transmission system is equipped with an internal 34.5-kilovolt (kV) distribution network, a 34.5/138-kV transformer substation, and a 138-kV transmission line.

The Cabugi plant was built in partnership with Eletrobrás; Mangue Seco with Alubar Energia; and the Potiguar and Juruti plants in partnership with Wobben WindPower. The deployment of the Mangue Seco Wind Power Plant is aligned with Petrobras' strategy of becoming an energy company with a high degree of environmental responsibility, generating power from a clean, renewable source of energy.

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