Impressed by the successful growth of the local eucalyptus: Heike Kröger and Ubbo de Witt
Brazil is the world's sixth-largest economy. The country is booming, and has also developed into one of the most vigorously growing wind markets. One consequence of this economic boom is the rising price of agricultural land, also exacerbated by international developments (damage due to climate change such as droughts and flooding). Prices are soaring by an average of 14 percent per year. In the last ten years, the price for agricultural land has almost quadrupled. That also applies to the land owned by the Projekt group.
Ten years ago, with excellent foresight, Projekt Ökovest founded its Brazilian subsidiary Ecoprojeto Ltda. and positioned itself on this market with a solidly developed network on the ground. True to its philosophy of cooperating right from the start with local entities, Projekt is driving joint projects in the energy sector and sustainable forestry in Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. The latest Ecoprojeto project is the Eólica São Lourenço wind farm located south of Porto Alegre. At this site, Ecoprojeto carries out wind measurements using a 100-metre-high measuring mast. This year's trip by the Projekt management duo kicked off with a meeting of landowners, who were informed about the next steps. Current plans comprise a wind farm with 62 wind turbines and a capacity of 168 MW.
Ökovest created another business field in Brazil with the foundation of its forestry project Ecoflorestamento Ltda. Four years ago, the company launched its first sustainable forestry project in Soledade, Rio Grande do Sul. Since 2008 it has been planting an area of 220 hectares with saplings of various indigenous trees such as araucaria and eucalyptus. During their trip in December, Heike Kröger and Ubbo de Witt were able to witness the first results of this solid growth.
Ecoprojeto has been working with the energy cooperative CRELUZ for several years (see eNews of 2.5.12). Both companies are partners in the cooperative company Coopervento, founded by Ecoprojeto. During the visit, the managers of Ecoprojeto, Projekt Ökovest and CRELUZ discussed the continuation of their activities in the jointly planned wind farm in Giruá. Due to the good results of the preparatory work performed by Ecoprojeto regarding planning permission, grid connection and wind measurement, they resolved to continue joint planning for the implementation of this wind farm. Apart from CRELUZ, two other cooperative utilities are participating in the project. Alongside Ecoprojeto, they will invest in the Coopervento joint venture as investment partners and contributors of expertise with 25-percent shares. The energy utilities will contribute their know-how in direct marketing of the future wind energy on the Brazilian energy market. They already operate several hydropower plants in the region, and the wind farm will supplement their generation capacities.
Sources and relevant links:
Article on the CRELUZ web site: Empresário alemão visita a Creluz
Article on BrasilNews: Preise für Ackerland steigen um 14% pro Jahr (in German)
