China's Goldwind is in advanced talks to install a wind turbine factory in Brazil with deliveries expected to start in 2024, an executive said on Wednesday.
The plant, whose location is not yet defined, will serve the Brazilian market, but may also export equipment to other countries in South America, according to Roberto Veiga, general manager of Goldwind in Brazil.
"We will start offering this turbine on the market already in mid-2023," Veiga told journalists in a wind industry event, adding that the first deliveries should start in 2024.
The company is negotiating with the governments of three Northeastern states - Ceara, Pernambuco and Bahia - to install the plant.
"During the election period this is a little bit on hold, we believe that after the vote is over we will have a definition," said the executive, referring to the second round of the presidential election, scheduled for Oct. 30.
He did not disclose the investment value, but stated that it is a "considerable" amount.
In recent years, the Chinese company began supplying its turbines to wind projects in Brazil but has been fulfilling these contracts through imports.
The start of local manufacturing - which enables better financing conditions for generators - represents a milestone for the Brazilian wind power industry, which recently experienced the exit of GE, an important global player that stopped producing its turbines in the country earlier this year.
Veiga said the machines produced in Brazil will have power from 6 to 7.8 megawatts (MW) and will have a technology that makes the equipment lighter, demanding less expensive materials to build.
