How wind energy contributes towards the diversification of the electric mix

Brazil, Santa Clara

ClimatePartner ID: 1326

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Wind energyGet to know the project

The project activity consists of the implementation and operation of seven new wind electricity generation facilities, located in the municipality of Parazinho, in the brazilian state Rio Grande do Norte. The new Windfarms Santa Clara I - VI and Eurus VI contribute to sustainable development by making the country’s electric mix more diverse as the project activity will deliver 726,712 MWh of renewable electricity to the national grid annually.

Moreover the project has a positive impact on the security of renewable electricity supply throughout the year as the period when there is the greatest abundance of wind resources is coincident with the period of the smallest hydraulic availability in Brazil. Hence, windbased electricity generation is complementary to hydroelectricity, which also diminishes the dependence upon fossil fuels during the dry season.

How wind energy contributes to climate action

As the name suggests, wind turbines use the power of the wind to generate energy. During this process, a generator located inside the wind turbine converts kinetic energy into electrical energy. As energy is still mainly generated from fossil fuels in many areas around the world, clean wind energy can replace some of this fossil, high-emission energy and verifiably save CO₂ emissions.

In most cases, the sustainably generated electricity from the wind power projects is fed into a regional power grid, which diversifies the power supply and improves energy security in regions that are frequently affected by power shortages and outages. A project often creates increased job opportunities for the local population and the area can be used for additional activities, such as agriculture. Wind power projects make an important contribution to a clean energy supply worldwide and contribute to sustainable development with respect to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Wind energy projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered with international standards.

The project aims to contribute to these United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Project facts

Climate projects generally fall into one of three groups: carbon reduction, carbon removal, or carbon avoidance. Carbon reduction projects reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by a specific activity (e.g., improved cookstoves). Carbon removal projects remove carbon from the atmosphere by sequestering it in carbon sinks (e.g., reforestation). Carbon avoidance projects avoid greenhouse gas emissions entering the atmosphere (e.g., protecting forests from deforestation with REDD+ projects).

All climate projects are based on international standards. They set processes and requirements which carbon projects must fulfill to be recognised as a proven method of reducing carbon emissions.

Climate projects demonstrably reduce, remove, or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. This is achieved with various technologies, ranging from nature-based solutions to social impact projects and renewable energies.

Most standards on the voluntary carbon market list their projects in public registries. The registries are used to store project data and track issuances and retirements of verified emission reductions. The registry ID can be used to identify projects in the standard registry.

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Climate projects go through third-party validation and verification. Verification happens regularly after each monitoring period. A validation and verification body checks and assesses whether the values and project activities stated in the monitoring report are correct and verifies them. As with validation, visits to the project site are often part of the process.

Climate projects go through third-party validation and verification. Validation happens early in the project life cycle and ensures that the project design is in line with current processes and requirements. This phase often also involves field visits with on-site interviews and analyses. Auditors are accredited, impartial assessors who have to be approved as a validation and verification body (VVB) by the standards body.

This figure shows the estimated annual emissions reductions calculated before the project started. Actual reductions in each monitoring period may differ. To be registered as a climate project, the project developer must submit the estimate using the ex-ante methodology in a Project Design Document (PDD), which is similar to a business plan, and an independent auditor validates it. In each monitoring period, the developer recalculates the figures based on the project’s actual performance and documents them in a monitoring report, which independent auditors then verify. VERs are only issued for reductions that have actually taken place.

* For certified projects only: the project-related information on this page is based on the documents in the register.

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