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Total Eren, a leading renewable energy Independent Power Producer (“IPP”) based in Paris, is pleased to announce that it has successfully commissioned the “Terra Santa” (92.3 MW) and “Maral” (67.5 MW) wind farms in the State of Rio Grande do Norte,
Brazil. Terra Santa (92.3 MW) and Maral (67.5 MW) both hold 20-year private Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Cemig Geração e Transmissão (“Cemig GT”), one of the largest power generators and distributors in Brazil. They will together generate 730 GWh per year, which is enough to supply the needs of more than 400,000 households in Brazil.
In the context of these projects, Total Eren signed Turbine Supply Agreements with Siemens Gamesa on October 15th, 2019, for 45 generators of 3.55 MW nominal capacity. The total investment of the Terra Santa and Maral facilities amounts to BRL 829 million (~ USD 154 million).
In December 2019, Total Eren secured a BRL 423 million (~ USD 79 million) long-term financing with a 22-year maturity from Banco do Nordeste (“BNB”), a prominent Brazilian development bank that acted as the sole long-term lender of the transaction. A non-recourse letter of credit was provided by three commercial banks with local presence in Brazil, namely Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A.,
Banco do Brasil S.A. and Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A.
Through these wind farms, Total Eren contributes to build a low-carbon environment in Brazil and to enhance socio-economic development. About 1,650 workers were hired on-site during construction works and 30 permanent jobs will be created during the operation and maintenance phase.
Active in Brazil since 2013, Total Eren owns today a total of c. 300 MW of solar and wind assets in operation and an advanced pipeline of c. 700 MW in the country, aiming to provide competitive renewable energy to both private and public energy consumers. In addition to Terra Santa and Maral wind farms, Total Eren owns three operating solar PV plants in Brazil: Dracena (90 MWp), BJL 11 (25
MWp) and BJL 4 (25 MWp).
Fabienne Demol, Executive Vice-President and Head of Business Development of Total Eren, commented: “We are pleased to complete the commissioning of our Terra Santa and Maral wind farms, two amazing projects that we are proud of to deliver for the benefit of our offtake, Cemig GT.
I would like to thank our teams for their excellent work in achieving this milestone despite the current context related to the covid-19 pandemic. Looking ahead, we are confident that we will develop new renewable energy projects in Brazil and increase our footprint in Latin America in the coming years.”
Pierre-Emmanuel Moussafir, Managing Director of Total Eren Brazil, added: “This is a very important milestone for Total Eren in Brazil as we have now completed a full cycle, implementing both solar and wind utility-scale plants in the country along with building a strong team to take on our next challenges.”
In addition to Brazil, Total Eren is developing projects in other countries of the Latin American region, including Central America and the Caribbean. The company owns 180 MW of wind and solar operating plants in Argentina and, together with TotalEnergies, 190 MWp of solar capacity in operation in Chile, a country where the company has secured lands and launched studies aiming to develop a large-scale green hydrogen project totaling up to 10 GW of wind installed capacity in the Magallanes region. In the Galápagos Islands, Total Eren also recently announced the co-development of a 14.8 MWp microgrid renewable energy project along with its Ecuadorian partner, Gransolar.
