French renewable energy company Voltalia has signed a 526MW hybrid renewables power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Uzbek state energy purchasing company wind and energy storage hybrid project is located in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan The offtake agreements for solar and wind capacity will last for 25 years while the storage portion will last 15 the project will boast a nameplate capacity of 126MW of solar PV 300MW of wind power and 100MW/200MWh of battery energy storage Construction is slated to begin in Q1 2026 for the solar and energy storage portions and Q3 2026 for the wind assets said the deal reflected “the confidence placed in Voltalia by the Uzbek authorities as a high-performing and leading partner in supporting the sector’s development.” Voltalia has previously struck deals with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade. Last year, it announced the construction of a separate 126MW PV plant in the country and signed a deal with the government to build a 500MW/1,000MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project former CEO Sebastian Clerc highlighted the attractiveness of the country as an investment destination “By offering long-term sales contracts for major national and international storage projects Uzbekistan offers the opportunity to accelerate Voltalia’s battery storage strategy without being exposed to fluctuations of the electricity market prices,” he said The country is aiming to reach 8GW of renewable energy capacity by 2026 and 12GW by 2030 around 7GW of which is earmarked for solar PV capacity we have upgraded our product offerings and features to bring you the best experience please check your email inbox for password reset message from PV Tech and follow the instructions Can\'t find the email? Try to sign in again and use the "Forgot Password" button If you have any questions please contact us Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information lie some of the world’s best winds for generating electricity featuring breezes so perfect for spinning turbines that this Brazilian region is capable of churning out more wind energy than any other part of the world In the latest testament to the region’s wind bounty just won contracts to build more farms there that’ll sell the cheapest wind power Brazil has ever seen Voltalia’s Vamcruz wind complex operating in Serra Branca cluster “Our strategy is to gain scale in that area,” Robert Klein country manager at Voltalia Brazil said in an interview “High volume is key to being competitive.” Voltalia’s buildout underscores just how big Brazil’s wind power market stands to get The country already has almost 11 gigawatts of turbines in operation now and was ranked the No 5 wind market in the world based on 2016 installations according to the Global Wind Energy Council Consistent breezes give the country a capacity factor of 39 percent the amount of electricity produced compared to its potential output if every turbine was spinning all the time And Rio Grande do Norte state — where Serra Branca is located — with higher average speeds and little variation in wind direction That’s why the state accounts for the most wind-power capacity in Brazil Two of Voltalia’s existing wind farms there were rated among the five most efficient in Brazil in 2016 coming in at 60.8 percent and 58.4 percent Brazil “clearly has a strong wind resource so it’s potentially a very strong market,” said Gurpreet Gujral The country is seeking to increase installed clean-energy capacity by 19 gigawatts by 2026 to diversify the local grid More wind translates into more electricity to sell The company won contracts to supply energy from five projects with 155 megawatts of capacity in a pair of government-organized auctions last month it offered to deliver electricity for 96.90 reais ($29.82) a megawatt-hour The company expects to invest 867 million reais for the projects according to Brazil’s Electric Energy Trading Board They must be connected to the grid in December 2020 for contracts from the first auction The company is developing a total of 1,000 megawatts of wind farms in the region and may bid for contracts in the next auction Partnering with suppliers such as turbine makers also helps Voltalia keep costs down “Our appetite continues to be high,” he said “Voltalia’s bids were surprising,” said Helena Chung an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance “But the company is a top performer in Brazil with projects operating at good efficiency rates given the high competition in the last auctions.” Voltalia’s aggressive bids were followed by other developers including Enel Green Power SpA reflecting pent-up demand after two years without wind-power auctions The government canceled two auctions in 2016 as an economic recession curbed electricity demand with the economy starting to recover and electricity consumption rising “The fact that Brazil is resuming doing auctions is very important,” Klein said “The wind industry was halted and now it’s reborn in a brilliant way.” BloombergNEF (BNEF) is a strategic research provider covering global commodity markets and the disruptive technologies driving the transition to a low-carbon economy Our expert coverage assesses pathways for the power buildings and agriculture sectors to adapt to the energy transition finance and policy professionals navigate change and generate opportunities © 2025 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All rights reserved. Privacy | Terms | Disclaimer | | Cookie Preferences | 沪ICP备17049401 Want to learn how we help our clients put it all together? Contact us Catch up on the latest news and original reporting produced by The Hustle team Bite-size stories from our daily newsletter Original reporting from our Sunday newsletter Browse our collection of educational shows and videos on YouTube Subscribe for little revelations across business and tech When it comes to brainstorming business ideas Everything you need to know about building your business on HubSpot Learn marketing strategies and skills straight from the HubSpot experts HubSpot Podcast Network is the destination for business professionals who seek the best education on how to grow a business and informative takes on business and tech news hosts Sam Parr and Shaan Puri explore new business ideas based on trends and opportunities in the market Redefining what success means and how you can find more joy Another Bite breaks down the latest and greatest pitches from Shark Tank Build your business for far and fast success HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar and Zapier CMO Kieran Flanagan share what's happening now in marketing and what's ahead All of HubSpot's marketing, sales CRM, customer service, CMS, and operations software on one platform. See pricing Deep in the northeast region of Brazil lies the humble town of Serra Branca Brazil was ranked the 5th best wind market in the world — and according to Bloomberg Tech Serra Branca’s breezes are “so perfect” for powering windmills that Brazil’s northeast region is capable of spinning more wind energy than any other region on the planet Consistent breezes reportedly give the entire country a capacity factor (electricity produced vs. its theoretical output) of 39% Serra Branca’s location specifically gets higher wind speeds on average than the rest of Brazil with very little change in the wind’s direction — known to wind-heads as “the perfect climate.” they account for the most wind-power capacity in Brazil French renewable energy company, Voltalia SA, just won two projects in Serra Branca that will reportedly sell the cheapest wind power ever in Brazil In a pair of government auctions last month the company bid to deliver electricity for a record low $29.82 per megawatt-hour a move that ultimately landed them the projects The company is now developing a total of 1k megawatts of wind farms in the northeast region and they expect to invest $867m into those endeavors Get the 5-minute newsletter keeping 2M+ innovators in the loop Checkout Trends.co to access exclusive research and connect with business builders from around the globe Not using HubSpot yet Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop French renewable power company Voltalia has started production at four solar projects in its Solar Serra do Mel (SSM) facility in Brazil are part of the company’s Serra Branca cluster in the north-eastern state of Rio Grande do Norte the projects’ operating capacity is just 17MW but Voltalia expects the remaining capacity to be “gradually commissioned in the coming months” “We are very pleased to announce the commencement of the commissioning of SSM3-6,” said Sébastien Clerc “This is the result of several years of development and construction work that is bearing its first fruits I would like to thank the teams that have contributed to this significant milestone.” Once all of the SSM3-6 projects have started production Voltalia will operate six producing solar projects in the Serra Branca cluster The first and second projects of the SSM facility began producing power in 2022 giving the Serra Branca cluster a total solar capacity of 580MW This is comparable to the 624MW of wind capacity already installed in six separate facilities in the cluster Voltalia is also constructing an additional 243MW of new solar in the Serra Branca cluster alongside a 435MW wind and solar development that is not yet at the construction stage Combined with 761MW of wind capacity developed and sold by Voltalia the company plans for its Serra Branca to have a total capacity of 2.4GW of renewable power and has already started work to integrate this growing capacity with the Brazilian grid the company started selling power produced by the cluster’s wind farms to Brazilian utility Copel and recently announced that it would sell the power from its SSM3-6 projects to the utility as part of a 14-year power purchase agreement Voltalia’s work aligns closely with the plans of the Brazilian government the country’s ministry of mines and energy alongside the Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica announced that the government plans to add more than 10GW of new renewables capacity by the end of this year Earlier this year, US solar tracker manufacturer Nextracker announced plans to implement its products at Atlas’s 902MWp solar plant in Brazil and Voltalia’s work is the latest example of a foreign solar power company looking to invest in Brazil’s growing renewables sector If you have any questions please contact us. WindVoltalia wins solar deals to kick-start Brazil hybrid strategyFrench group will build PV in Serra Branca complex that already has 309MW of wind in operation IN SHORT: A video of a violent attack has spread widely on social media with the claim it shows a white farmer beaten up by black South Africans Warning: This report links to a graphic and upsetting video A common caption reads: “South Africa - More disturbing footage from the racist pro Hamas country as we see a white farmer being viciously assaulted with weapons by savages linked to Julius Malema’s EFF.” The Economic Freedom Fighters, or EFF, is a political party led by Julius Malema. South Africa is set to hold elections in 2024. The claim first appeared on social media in early January a reported 27,478 Palestinians in Gaza had been killed.  The claim can also be seen here, here and here Africa Check googled phrases from the video’s captions such as “boer farmer attacked by black South Africans” If the video did show an assault on a white farmer in South Africa it would have made front page news However, our online search led us to comments on a tweet from the X account @Migrants5O73250. The account, recently suspended for violating the X Rules One comment reads: “And that white farmer (who is actually a professor) was beaten by South Africans in Brazil where he lives Cause his aggressor was sentenced in Brazil and it happened in Brazil The comment links to a Brazilian news article dated 18 February 2020 A machine translation of its Portuguese headline reads: “After being recorded performing oral sex in a public square a teacher is brutally beaten in Serra Branca.” Photos in the article show the victim soon after he was rescued by police bruising and wounds all indicate he is the man assaulted in the viral video He was also interviewed from his hospital bed in a news segment uploaded on YouTube The victim said four people were involved in the attack. One suspect was arrested and charged with the crimes of torture Homophobia – specifically violence against LGBTQI people because of their sexual orientation – has been a crime in Brazil since 2019. LGBTQI stands for lesbian All available evidence points to the attack being in Brazil in 2020 You can republish the text of this article free of charge, both online and in print. However, we ask that you pay attention to these simple guidelines as in most cases we do not own the copyright 3. Make sure you credit "Africa Check" in the byline and don't forget to mention that the article was originally published on africacheck.org A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false” Click on our guide for the steps you should follow The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram public figures need to be held to account for what they say non-partisan organisation which assesses claims made in the public arena using journalistic skills and evidence drawn from the latest online tools sorting fact from fiction and publishing the results Help us keep it that way by supporting our work Africa Check values your trust and is committed to the responsible management, use and protection of personal information. See our privacy policy. Support independent fact-checking in Africa