WEG and ENGIE Brasil Energia are completing the most important phase of the Research and Development Project named “National Aerogenerator”, which is the assembly of the equipment. Located in the municipality of Tubarão, state of Santa Catarina, the wind turbine is installed at ENGIE's R&D experimental park and is the result of a Strategic Project of the company's Research and Development (R&D) Program together with the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL). The wind turbine was designed and built by WEG and the second stage of the project also had resources from the R&D of Santa Catarina Electricity Utility (CELESC). 

The project called "Development and certification of a national direct coupling 4.2 MW wind turbine with permanent magnet synchronous generator and full power drive", aims at developing and encouraging national wind power technology to minimize dependability on others countries, by strengthening the Brazilian chain of component suppliers and service providers for the manufacture and installation of large size wind turbines. 

The manufacture of the holding tower with more than 1,100 tons of steel and concrete was carried out by WEG at the wind turbine installation site. The generator, hub and nacelle, installed on top of the concrete tower, were produced by WEG at the headquarters manufacturing facilities located in Jaraguá do Sul, state of Santa Catarina, while the wind blades were manufactured by the company Aeris, in Caucaia, state of Ceará.

One of the project's challenges was related to logistics, given the dimensions of the equipment and the distances covered. Generator, hub and nacelle, weighing about 201.3 tons, were transported 300km on a road trip from Jaraguá do Sul to to Tubarão. The blades measuring 72 meters long and weighing 22.5 tons each, were transported by ship from the Port of Pecém, in Ceará, to the Port of Imbituba, state of Santa Catarina and then sent to Tubarão on a special trailer, with support from the Federal Highway Police and state utility CELESC. 

This new 4.2 MW turbine was installed 600 meters away from another 2.1 MW wind turbine, as a result of the first stage of this Strategic R&D Project, which was the first prototype built by WEG in Brazil. This wind turbine started operating in 2015 and the analysis of its performance contributed for the development of this new 4.2 MW wind turbine, more suited to the wind conditions in Brazil. The electricity generated will in the future be supplied to the National Interconnected System (SIN), which connects the generation utilities and electricity consumers. 

“The development of the AGW 147/4.2 wind turbine relied on multi-discipline engineering teams. The final validation of the components was carried out at WEG's headquarters in Jaraguá do Sul through the back-to-back platform. In such an arrangement, two wind turbines are mechanically connected facing each other, one operating as a generator and the other as a motor simulating the wind, which allows more autonomy to our R&D process. It is worth emphasizing that this test structure is the largest of its kind in the Americas, with testing capacity to serve future platforms up to 6MW. The second wind turbine used in the arrangement will be supplied to the Indian market, with the installation expected still in 2021”, says WEG Energy Managing Director, João Paulo Gualberto da Silva. 

“ENGIE's investment in this project is over R$ 80 million and tends to encourage the national market for wind power generation. The development of Brazilian technology can bring economic and social benefits to several regions, increase the country's competitiveness for the supply of this equipment abroad and may come to reduce the cost of generated energy for direct benefit to consumers”, explains ENGIE Brasil Energia´s New Businesses, Strategy and Innovation Director, Guilherme Ferrari.