“When I joined Enel Green Power, Cristalândia was in its early phases. I heard some colleagues joking about the project, calling it an ugly duckling, but after years of hard work and effort, I’m sure we transformed it into a beautiful swan”. Boris Drusettich is the Project Manager of our 90-MW wind farm that officially began to produce clean energy a few days ago. We’re in the state of Bahia in Brazil, between the small towns of Brumado, Rio de Contas and Dom Basilio which comprise the mesoregion of Centro-Sul Baiano. Many people, strolling through the huge pillars that support the wind turbines, seem to be in disbelief. Cristalândia is finally a reality and now it will be able to produce enough energy to meet the annual needs of more than 170,000 Brazilian households. "Like in all projects, we had to face several obstacles along the way. The last weeks were particularly challenging, but we managed to complete all our activities successfully. I’m proud to be the project manager of the team that accomplished it." Boris Drusettich, Project Manager A Success for Everyone Construction of the Cristalandia wind farm started on 6 April 2016. After about a year, we had built 45 turbines that produced their first kWh at 8:25 (Brazilian time) on 24 July. “It was very exciting to see the plant start producing energy! All the team put a lot of effort and enthusiasm in this achievement. Cristalândia was a one-of-a-kind experience for us and left us important lessons to valorise in the incoming projects”, added the Project Manager, Boris Drusettich. Once fully operational, the plant will be able to generate about 350 GWh a year, avoiding the emission of about 118,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. "In the state of Bahia, we currently manage 711 MW of solar and wind capacity and we are adding an additional 600 MW in projects using these renewable sources." Our Commitment to the Community In line with the “Creating Shared Value” (CSV) model adopted by the Group, which aims to combine business development with the needs of the local communities, Enel Green Power has carried out a series of initiatives in the areas around our plants in Brazil. "We are committed to supporting the country’s economy in the most responsible way, contributing to the diversification of the renewable energy mix and carrying out sustainability initiatives with the aim of creating shared value for local communities." Carlo Zorzoli, Country Manager for Enel in Brazil Throughout the state of Bahia, we’ve carried out workshops for creative recycling, with the objective of fostering earnings through the reuse of plant construction materials, like pallets suitable for furnishing and cloth used to make products to sell on the local market. We’ve also built a bridge, a work of high engineering that will remain available to everyone.
