Latin America
The Latin American market, despite the tremendous wind resources in the region, saw only slow growth in 2008.
The only country installing stubstantial new capacity was Brazil, which added 94 MW of wind energy across five wind farms, mostly located in Ceará in the north east of the country.
Brazil’s PROINFA program was initially passed in 2002 in order to stimulate the addition of over 1,400 MW of wind energy capacity and other renewable sources. The first stage was supposed to finish in 2008, but it has now been extended. Although substantial installations are expected this year, it is unlikely to achieve the overall goal.
The Brazilian government is now looking at establishing an auctioning scheme to increase the country’s wind capacity, and a first auction is expected in late 2009.
