Through ENERGIMP, a wholly-owned subsidiary, IMPSA acquired the rights to develop 3 wind farms in the State of Ceará in northern Brazil under the PROINFA I legal framework. The Incentive Program for Alternative Energy Sources (PROINFA, for its acronym in Portuguese) provides incentives to develop wind energy, and small hydropower and biomass plants in order to expand the National Grid by 3,300 MW.

The Ceará Project has granted the rights to develop three wind farms, which will total 99.6 MW and supply more than 400 GW/h/year: Volta do Río UE (Electric Plant) (42 MW), Praia do Morgado UE (28.8 MW) and Praia de Parajuru UE (28.8 MW). The first two are located some 300 km from the city of Fortaleza, the capital of the State of Ceará, and Praia do Parajuru is 100 km south of that city. Location of the three wind farms in Brazil’s best wind site will ensure a high capacity factor.

PROINFA I establishes clear rules for developing these projects, especially in respect of:

• A 20-year contract with Eletrobrás for the sale of electricity at a special rate revised on an annual basis according to the wholesale price index
• A special long-term financing scheme in local currency with loans granted by BNDES and BNE AND
• Sixty percent of all manufacturing components shall be made in Brazil.
• Ten percent of all the electricity produced in Brazil shall be generated from renewable energy sources

The projects will be developed by ENERGIMP (IMPSA Energy–Brazil) and the equipment will be supplied in the EPC mode by WPE (Wind Power Energy), a subsidiary of IMPSA in Brazil that produces wind power equipment. Sixty-six 1.5 MW wind turbines shall be delivered and commissioned in 2008.