In response to the expansion of wind energy in Brazil and the importance of the source to the diversification of Brazil's power grid, GE is building two service centers to support wind turbine operations and maintenance.
The support centers, which are expected to create about 100 jobs, will be located near a cluster of wind farms to allow for quick, local response to scheduled – and unscheduled – service needs. The centers will be staffed by GE technicians and engineers at wind farms operated by developer Casa dos Ventos and other GE clients.
The turbine maker also provided an update for its three Casa dos Ventos wind projects that are now under construction. One of these is the Tiangua Cluster, in the state of Ceara, which has 77 GE 1.6-100 wind turbines, with delivery scheduled for the second half of this year. The other two wind farm clusters, which are in underway at the Garanhuns region, will have 233 GE 1.7-100 wind turbines. The Santa Brigida Cluster has 107 turbines, which are presently in the installation phase, and the San Clemente Cluster has the remaining 126.
Wind power accounts for 4.6% of the national grid, registering 6.2 GW of installed capacity in March 2015. Wind advocates anticipate 16.4 GW in installed capacity by 2019.
