The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will make an equity investment of US$5.5 million in Energias Renováveis do Brasil Ltda (Enerbrasil), to support the construction, operation, and maintenance of a 49.3MW wind farm.
The wind farm will be located in the Municipality of Rio do Fogo, State of Rio Grande do Norte, in the Northeast of Brazil. Scheduled to begin operating in June 2006, the Rio do Fogo wind farm is expected to be the first large-scale wind power project to enter commercial operation in Brazil. Enerbrasil will sell all its output to Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. (Eletrobrás), Brazil’s state-controlled electricity utility, under a 20-year power purchase agreement.