Wind energy in Brazil has reached an important milestone in 2024, with the sector showing significant growth despite the challenges it faces. To understand more about the developments and next steps for the industry, we spoke with Elbia Ghannoum, CEO of ABEEÓLICA – the Brazilian Association for Wind Energy and New Technologies.
In this interview, Elbia shares his insight on the factors that have contributed to the growth of wind energy, ABEEÓLICA’s goals for the development of the sector until 2030 and the forecast for new technologies, such as more efficient turbines and offshore wind energy. Furthermore, it talks about the social and economic impacts that wind farms generate on communities, and the government incentives and regulatory challenges that still need to be overcome.
Watch the full interview to learn more about the challenges and opportunities for the future of wind energy in Brazil.
Canal – Jornal da Pioneergia: Wind energy in Brazil will reach an important milestone in 2024. What factors do you attribute to the significant growth that the sector has experienced in recent years?
Albia gnome: We have 33.66 GW of accumulated capacity (commercial and test), with a total of 1,102 parks with 11,706 wind turbines. So far, we have installed 3.2 GW in 2024, with 75 parks and 663 wind turbines.
However, 2024 for the wind energy sector has been a challenging year, as we came off two consecutive years of installation records and found ourselves facing a year with few contracts signed between investors and manufacturers, raising the alarm about the existence of an energy crisis. Wind industry on the factory floor.
In addition to the reduction in signed contracts for new wind farms, some problems had already been identified in previous years, but this had repercussions for a large part of the actions in 2024. Firstly, the reductions in wind and solar generation were aimed at the extensive actions and initiatives taken by the Association before regulatory bodies and institutions in the electricity sector, with the aim of mitigating the impact, which ABEEólica estimates at R$1.8 billion per year from January to November 2024.
Despite the challenges, we have made great achievements in this sector. Within the scope of new technologies and new businesses, we obtained approval of the legal framework for low-carbon hydrogen with tax incentives for the industry (Laws No. 14,928/24 and 14,990/24), and approval of the Brazilian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System (Legal Framework for the Carbon Market ). Moreover, the Legal Framework for Offshore Wind and the Plan to Accelerate the Energy Transition (PATEN), highlights other ABEEólica actions in the legislatures that are worth mentioning in 2024.
The year 2024 was marked by the consolidation of the ESG agenda in the wind energy sector with the launch of the Good Social and Environmental Practices Guide for the Wind Sector and the implementation of the ESG Management Plan. These initiatives demonstrated a commitment to overcoming challenges, evaluating good practices and enhancing the image and reputation of the Brazilian wind energy sector. Through constructive dialogue with public authorities, we are working to ensure important progress towards a more sustainable future.
Channel: What are ABEEÓLICA’s main goals and forecasts for the development of the sector until 2030?
Elbia: Although the wind energy industry faces a major economic crisis in the next two years, we see a return to accelerated growth after this period, similar to what happened until 2023. After that, we see some windows of opportunity between 2025-2030, among them ,On the topic of energy storage, we have good expectations about the ,capacity reserve auction that will be conducted in 2025 using ,batteries and by the horizon of 2030, they already have maturity ,applications that may bring greater flexibility. and the operational efficiency of the National Interconnected System (SIN). We hope to reap the benefits of the actions we have taken in 2024, such as the start of commercial operation of the first green hydrogen plants and the production of its derivatives. By 2030, we estimate we will be on the verge of commissioning our first offshore wind farms, and we expect to have 55 GW of installed capacity onshore.
Channel: In addition to sustainability, wind energy has created jobs and regional development. Can you tell us about the social and economic impacts observed in the communities where wind farms have been installed?
Elbia: Wind energy has played an important role in boosting local economies where the parks operate, and in generating jobs, especially in the Northeast, where about 90% of the parks are located. For every megawatt installed, approximately 11 new job opportunities are created, with more than 300,000 direct and indirect jobs created so far. Another important point is the economic multiplier factor, for every R$2.90 invested in wind farms, the impact on Brazilian GDP is R$2.90. The GDP and HDI of municipalities with wind farms show growth of 20% and 21%, respectively.
Channel: Brazil has attracted foreign investors for renewable energy projects. What is the role of government incentives and how does ABEEÓLICA promote market confidence?
Elbia: The Federal Government’s signal of a green decarbonisation agenda for onshore and offshore wind farms and their energy carriers such as green hydrogen is a very powerful mechanism. This is because major economies have signaled themselves with very strong fiscal stimulus, such as the United States and the European Union, for example. Although Brazil does not have these resources in the same way, the country is able to provide a well-regulated institutional environment, with tailored incentives and guarantees for foreign direct investment, as we have a geographical location and very abundant renewable resources. These resources are not available in major advanced economies and highlight our comparative advantages with regard to the energy transition.
ABEEólica works to ensure the design of these minimum structures and from there, foreign investors naturally mobilize their capital to develop onshore and offshore wind farms and make the strategy of intensifying production chains locally, close to renewable energy generation, viable.
Channel: Despite progress, the sector faces challenges such as logistics and regulation. What are the most prominent bottlenecks today, and how did the association work to overcome them?
Elbia: The sector’s challenges in 2025 are mainly the continuation of some of the problems it faced in 2024. We estimate a decrease in the number of parks installed in 2025 compared to the result of 2023 and 2024. This is because the impact on the number of gardens installed is reflected over a period of 18 to 24 months after the period of contracting for machinery, equipment and services. Accordingly, we recognize that it will be a more challenging year for the industry and its production chain, reflecting continued low energy demand, unattractive power contracts, continued generation cuts and higher MMGD. Regarding challenges such as generation reduction and other regulatory issues, ABEEólica continues its work with government bodies, as well as promoting discussion and technical studies to support pending decisions with technical rules, data and information.
Channel: How does ABEEÓLICA see the impact of digitalization and technological innovation, such as more efficient turbines, on the future of the sector?
Elbia: Digitization and technological innovation in the wind energy sector are becoming a reality, and it will be very important for companies to embrace this phenomenon, as wind turbines increasingly gain size and power. For example, today’s market is already able to supply wind turbines in the power range of 4.5 to 7.5 MW, a very different reality from the wind energy scenario 10 years ago. Digital transformation is a reality and will bring greater efficiency in the operation and maintenance of wind turbines, for better failure rates of wind turbines, more convenient lubrication of bearings, more effective maintenance stops, as well as creating power curves to even influence anemometers from available wind resources. Therefore, the wind energy industry will participate in the discussion of Industry 4.0 and digitalization, integrating big data management and the use of artificial intelligence algorithms with the aim of more efficient operation of wind farms and reducing losses and failures. Not to mention that digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence in the future will contribute to the operation of large offshore wind farms, which will require more powerful technological resources.
Channel: Offshore wind energy is still an area under exploration in Brazil. What are the expectations for the development of this sector in the country, and what opportunities does it provide?
Elbia: With the recent approval of the Offshore PL program, we await the President’s approval for companies to advance to the feasibility study stage and the long-awaited area session auction. There are already license applications at Ibama, but the regulation of offshore wind farms must first be approved. Expectations indicate that the first wind turbines at sea will begin operating in 2030/2031. The arrival of offshore companies provides a major opportunity for the green re-industrialization of the country and a new source of energy that will generate employment, income, economic, social and technological development as well as provide energy to meet new demand with the production of low carbon hydrogen and data centres.
