Furnas inaugurates a wind tunnel to improve wind energy production | New

They measure 27 meters long – that's the size of a medium-sized aircraft. Inside the glbad walls, it is possible to simulate storms, explosions and even quieter situations.

"The camera simulates here a cool breeze typical of the northeast coast, but the truth is that I am in Goiás, about a thousand kilometers from the nearest coast," said Fábio Castro, to Aparecida de Goiânia.

The wind tunnel was built at Aparecida de Goiânia, in the Furnas research laboratory, in conjunction with Eletrobras. It has been developed in Brazil using technologies already used abroad for aerodynamic testing of cars and aircraft.

The device reproduces in laboratory the existing wind farms in 12 Brazilian states. These parks are power plants that turn the wind into electricity. Production is already sufficient to supply 26 million households. The strength of the winds represents 8% of the electrical energy produced in the country.

The use of wind energy for the production of electric power is increasing in Brazil. In August 2018 alone, growth was 19% over the same period in 2017. And the country has the capacity to increase 40 times the production of this type of electric power. And this is where the equipment comes in and contributes to the realization of new projects: what is the best form of propeller, what type of material is capable of increasing the efficiency and durability of giant weathervanes and more again.

"You have to badyze the interferences between one tower and another: where to place the tower and how this wind will behave over time, so that the field studies, the wind tunnel studies and the digital studies will give a better efficiency. park, "explained Renato Cabral, Furnas Services and Technology Manager.

For scientists, the tunnel is an important route for the production of electric power in Brazil.