Gestamp Cabeco Preto & Pedra do Reino Wind Farms

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The Spanish Gestamp Renewables was granted four authorizations to build and operate wind power plants known as Cabeco Preto Wind Park with 39.6 MW and Pedra do Reino Wind Park with 39 MW for a total installed capacity of 78.6 MW in the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia. Gestamp Renewables created the following subsidiaries to manage the projects: Gestamp Eólica Baixa Verde S.A. for EOL Cabeco Preto (19.8 MW); Gestamp Eolica Moxoto S.A. for EOL Cabeco Preto IV (19.8 MW); Eólica Pedra do Reino SA for EOL Pedra do Reino I (21 MW) and Gestamp Eolicatec Sobradinho S.A for EOL Pedra do Reino III (18 MW). In 2009, Gestamp Renewables won the rights to sell electricity to the grid via a tender carried out by the government. Starting in August 2010, Gestamp Renewables signed 15-year power purchase agreements with several electricity distribution companies to provide electricity to the grid. The total investment in the wind farms was estimated to be BRL 351.9 million or US$215.6 million. In October 2011, the four subsidiaries (Gestamp Eolica Baixa Verde SA, Gestamp Eolica Moxoto SA, Gestamp Eolicatec Sobradinho SA, and Eolica Pedra do Reino SA) requested loans from Sudene (northeastern region development agency) for the amount of US$ 125.2 million (BRL 210.5 million). As of November 2012, these loans had not been approved, but construction works were concluded in the first semester of 2012. In May 2012, EOL Cabeco Preto I and EOL Cabeco Preto IV commenced commercial operations, while the other two power plants commenced operations in 2013. In 2013, the the state-owned bank BNDES granted a US$ 37.5 million (BRL 88.2 million) to the project companies.