Minas Gerais will expand its solar energy capacity. This is because WEG announced the installation of a new factory in the city of Betim, focused on the production of electrical centers for solar and industrial generation. In total, the unit has 5 thousand square meters of built area and will generate 100 new jobs in the next three years.
“We are the largest manufacturer of electrical rooms in Latin America and this unit will be an important part of our production capacity in the coming years,” said Manfred Peter Johann, CEO of WEG Automation. “In addition, the plant will also strengthen our position in one of the most important markets for electrical equipment for power generation and mining in the country,” he emphasized.
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In January 2020, WEG acquired in Betim one of the most modern manufacturing plants in Brazil for high voltage transformers, mainly aimed at projects and large transmission lines.
Since January 2021, the company has announced that it has started manufacturing power transformers, shunt reactors and power autotransformers with voltage classes up to 800 kV and power up to 500 MVA. Together, the company's two operations in the city will employ more than 300 employees. “The attractiveness of Minas Gerais as a location for WEG's new investments was highlighted after a long analysis, which considered several alternatives throughout Brazil,” emphasized Johann.
“We will have an excellent market, a privileged location, access to strategic routes, a strong industrial culture, with an educational base and good quality technical and higher education courses – which guarantees us a qualified workforce”, he added.
According to the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema, the new WEG project reinforces the favorable business environment that MG offers. “We are a friendly state for those who generate jobs and income”, he concluded.
Solar energy in MG
Data from ABSOLAR (Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy) point out that Minas Gerais leads the state ranking of distributed photovoltaic generation with 938 MW of power – which corresponds to 18,1% of the total installed capacity in the country.
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