Breakbulk South America: Brazil’s Wind Risk

Brazil’s complicated logistics have become a particular problem for the country’s booming wind energy sector, speakers at the Breakbulk South America Congress in Sao Paulo said December 7.

The country is adding wind energy capacity at the rate of 2,000 megawatts per year, explained Elbia Melo, president of the Brazilian Wind Energy Association.
But moving giant towers, heavy bases and delicate flanges through Brazil’s inadequate port infrastructure has proved a nightmare.

“When the stevedores saw the vessel arrive, all they could do was scratch their heads,” said Joe Barbosa, international trade and logistics coordinator at turbine producer IMPSA Wind, discussing a recent shipment to a port in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

Unloading the turbines, which was scheduled to take four days, instead took twenty, and a second shipment had to be rerouted to a port with better facilities to deal with the out-of-gauge cargo.

Meanwhile, laws limiting cabotage to Brazil-registered ships are hampering the development of a domestic turbine industry. The lack of suitable vessels means that it can cheaper to transport equipment from China or the US rather than up the coast from Brazil.

Once in port, terminals are often reluctant to receive difficult-to-handle cargo, preferring easier work such as containers and bulk. It can take as much as three weeks to find a vessel berth.

Logistics represents the main risk factor in any wind energy project in Brazil, noted Melo.

With power tariffs now at a highly competitive 100 Reais per megawatt hour and firms facing stiff penalties if they fail to inject energy on schedule, every delay is eating into slim profit margins, she added.

“If nothing is done [to improve the situation], wind projects will be at risk,” said Enrico Malzone, logistic operations leader at GE Energy.

Photo courtesy of heavy-lift carrier Scan-Trans Worldwide.