Chesf (Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco), in partnership with France's Voltalia, will invest R$440m in four wind parks to be constructed in the municipality of Jijoca de Jericoacoara, in Ceará. The projects will have combined installed capacity of 111 MW. The four projects are Junco I and II, (each 30 MW), and Caiçara I and II (30 MW and 21 MW respectively). The projects were granted contracts in the A-5 auctions last December and will become operational by January 2016. Chesf also has projects in Bahia, totalling 270 MW, which will become operational in 2013 and which will require investment of R$350m.

Spanish company Acciona has entered the Brazilian wind energy market, signing its first contract in the fast growing Brazilian wind market - a deal for AW 3000 turbines with capacity of 120 MW from developer CPFL Energias Renováveis. Acciona plans to build a manufacturing plant in Brazil in due course, according to Recharge. In the meantime, the turbines to be supplied to CPFL are understood to comply with the domestic content requirements to comply with BNDES rules for favourable loan financing.

In contrast to its activities in Mexico, where Acciona is actively developing projects as well as supplying equipment, the company is not a partner for the CPFL projects where the turbines will be used. However, Acciona is also understood to be considering project development in Brazil.

CPFL Energias Renovaveis SA the renewable-energy joint venture of ERSA-Energias Renovaveis SA and CPFL Energia SA (CPFE3). It is becoming a sizeable player in the Brazilian market, having been actively expanding its portfolio of wind projects. Last year it acquired Jantus, which owned four farms with combined capacity of 210 MW in Ceara and a project pipeline of 732 MW. Earlier this year it annonunced the acquistion of four wind projects, with combined capacity of 120 MW, in Rio Grande do Sul, from Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios.

All of the images below have been reproduced courtesy of CERNE - Centro de Estratégias em Recursos Naturais e Energia, Natal, Brasil - www.cerne.org.br. Captions include the Twitter feed from @jpprates - Jean-Paul Prates, Director General of CERNE - with descriptions of the images (and links to the originals which were posted on Twitter).

All of the images below have been reproduced courtesy of CERNE - Centro de Estratégias em Recursos Naturais e Energia, Natal, Brasil - www.cerne.org.br. Captions include the Twitter feed from @jpprates - Jean-Paul Prates, Director General of CERNE - with descriptions of the images (and links to the originals which were posted on Twitter).

All of the images below have been reproduced courtesy of CERNE - Centro de Estratégias em Recursos Naturais e Energia, Natal, Brasil - www.cerne.org.br. Captions include the Twitter feed from @jpprates - Jean-Paul Prates, Director General of CERNE - with descriptions of the images (and links to the originals which were posted on Twitter).

All of the images below have been reproduced courtesy of CERNE - Centro de Estratégias em Recursos Naturais e Energia, Natal, Brasil - www.cerne.org.br. Captions include the Twitter feed from @jpprates - Jean-Paul Prates, Director General of CERNE - with descriptions of the images (and links to the originals which were posted on Twitter).

All of the images below have been reproduced courtesy of CERNE - Centro de Estratégias em Recursos Naturais e Energia, Natal, Brasil - www.cerne.org.br. Captions include the Twitter feed from @jpprates - Jean-Paul Prates, Director General of CERNE - with descriptions of the images (and links to the originals which were posted on Twitter).

Wind turbine manufacturer IMPSA, plans to build a new wind turbine manufacturing plant in Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazil. In contrast to many manufacturers who are setting up in the North East of Brazil – with a view to the export markets to the north (North America, the Caribbean and even Europe) – IMPSA, which is an Argentine company, expects to export from the new plant to the Northeast of Argentina and to Uruguay – in addition to supplying the Brazilian market.

Rio Grande do Sul and neighbouring state Santa Catarina are already amongst the leading states in terms of wind projects in Brazil. IMPSA, which recently extended capacity at its plant in Suape, Pernambuco (in the North East of Brazil), to 400 turbines annually, produces turbines designed specifically for Brazilian winds – the IWP 100 model. The company will reportedly supply 140 turbines every year from the new plant in the south. The Rio Grande do Sul plant is due to enter into production in 2013 and will require investment of R$100m.

Separately, IMPSA is reported to be planning to build an electronics factory, at a cost of R$30 m, to supply converters to its wind turbines. The location for that project is understood to be Minas Gerais, in the centre of Brazil, although the decision is not yet final.