Hybrid power plants that incorporate more than one energy source — usually wind and solar — are being planned by several developers, mainly in the sunny Northeast region, which has some of the world’s strongest, most consistent winds.

“In the region where we operate wind farms [the highlands of Bahia], the wind starts to pick up in late afternoon and gets stronger overnight, when the sun is not shining,” says Mathias Becker, chief executive of Renova Energia, Brazil’s biggest wind developer.