Competitiveness factors for an onshore wind farm project

Given the unfavorable climate for new projects, it is essential to prioritize those capable of producing electricity at the lowest cost.

Introduction

Despite record volumes of expansion in installed wind and photovoltaic capacity, the signing of new long-term electricity sales contracts and, consequently, the contracting of new works have fallen significantly. The main reason is the huge drop in long-term electricity prices, around 41% in the last 12 months alone, according to data from DCIDE (2023). In addition, high interest rates and the still high value of CAPEX, compared to pre-COVID values, also burden the competitiveness of new projects. At the same time, the market for centralized generation projects is highly competitive. The stock of wind farm (UEE) and photovoltaic (UFV) projects authorized by Aneel continues to grow. There are already more than 149 GW in projects with authorization granted, totaling 3,499 projects. Of these, 136.4 GW have not yet begun construction (Aneel, 2023).

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