The groups hope to double the size of the existing 150MW Osório wind farm in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and build a 142MW farm in the city of Palmares do Sul.

A total investment of R$1.6bn ($914m) is expected and the farms would come on line in 2012. The Osório expansion project has already received requisite environmental licensing.

“Our base generation is hydropower, but our administration is looking at new businesses, says the president of Grupo CEEE, Sérgio Camps de Morais.

Ventos do Sul Energia runs the existing farm, whose majority owner is Enerfin, a part of the Spanish Grupo Elecnor, which has 2 gigawatts (GW) of wind power projects around the world. Wobben Windpower, Brazil’s first wind equipment manufacturer, is a partner in the original venture.

The Osório wind farm is the only wind project in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, and was built under the government’s alternative energy incentive programme, Proinfa.

The government will hold the country’s first wind tender next month. More than 10GW worth of wind projects have been approved for participation, and the government is offering rates of R$189 per megawatt hour and contracts of 20 years.