In 2004 the Large Risks team at AGF Brasil Seguros lent their expertise and technical advice to a construction company for wind farms. The relationship blossomed so that AGF Brasil Seguros now is the leading insurer of wind farms in Brazil. The in-house expertise within the Allianz Group has facilitated the company’s entry into wind farm insurance.
AGF Brasil covers both the building and the operation of wind farms: Once it gets the construction business, chances are good to become property insurer as well.
Brasil
No "ill wind" in Brazil
Wind park construction in Brazil is gaining force as the demand for electric power increases. AGF Brasil Seguros has the windwards position when it comes to insuring the construction and operations of Brazilian wind parks.
Wind energy is expected to grow
Energy demand outstrips supply
Business is still relatively small in Brazil, but the country's energy demand is far outstripping the supply – so much so that real supply problems are expected by 2010. Wind-derived energy is forecast to increase from currently supplying 0.5 percent of the national electricity grid to five percent in the next five to ten years.
Growing Business
Fifteen wind farms – eight of them covered by AGF Brasil Seguros – currently dot the Brazilian landscape, mostly in coastal areas. The Engineering Risks team is in the process of signing off on a new construction policy, and has submitted quotes for several others.
As this is a growing business for AGF Brasil, it is good business. The company's loss record on wind farms has been excellent. The technology for building and maintaining wind farms has improved tremendously since they were first introduced in Europe approximately ten years ago.
"The construction phase, which can see anything from several to hundreds of one-hundred-meter-high windmills hoisted in one farm, is the most dangerous", says one team member. "But, once the farm is up and running, it’s the normal events you worry about – fire, lightening, wind storms, mechanical breakdown or a short circuit in the generator."
As this is a growing business for AGF Brasil, it is good business. The company's loss record on wind farms has been excellent. The technology for building and maintaining wind farms has improved tremendously since they were first introduced in Europe approximately ten years ago.
"The construction phase, which can see anything from several to hundreds of one-hundred-meter-high windmills hoisted in one farm, is the most dangerous", says one team member. "But, once the farm is up and running, it’s the normal events you worry about – fire, lightening, wind storms, mechanical breakdown or a short circuit in the generator."
Renewable energy potential
Most of Brazil’s energy is renewable: 77 percent is hydro-electric. The balance of 20.5 percent is thermal, gas, coal, or diesel, and two percent is nuclear.
Brazil’s long rivers and many lakes offer abundant opportunities for dams to be built. Only 28 percent of the country’s hydro potential is currently being utilized, so there is enormous room for development.
For hydro-electric power, too, the future has already started in Brazil: With the existing demand, there is no time to wait for large hydro-electric plants to be built – some are planned but are delayed pending environmental licenses –, so many smaller plants are under construction. AGF Brasil Seguros is well-placed: The company insures 30 percent of these new plants.
Sections of this article were originally published in the employee magazine "Allianz Journal".
As with all content published on this site, these statements are subject to our Forward-Looking Statement disclaimer, provided on the right.
Brazil’s long rivers and many lakes offer abundant opportunities for dams to be built. Only 28 percent of the country’s hydro potential is currently being utilized, so there is enormous room for development.
For hydro-electric power, too, the future has already started in Brazil: With the existing demand, there is no time to wait for large hydro-electric plants to be built – some are planned but are delayed pending environmental licenses –, so many smaller plants are under construction. AGF Brasil Seguros is well-placed: The company insures 30 percent of these new plants.
Sections of this article were originally published in the employee magazine "Allianz Journal".
As with all content published on this site, these statements are subject to our Forward-Looking Statement disclaimer, provided on the right.
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