Brazil plans to invest nearly $14.9 billion in wind power projects between 2015 and 2018 to boost the amount of installed capacity from that renewable source to 7,227 MW, according the Brazilian Wind Energy Association, ABEeolica.
The association estimates that between 2005 and the end of 2014 Brazilian wind energy generation will have avoided 6.5 million tons of carbon-dioxide emissions.
An 8.9-million-ton reduction in emissions of that greenhouse gas will have been achieved by the end of 2017 thanks to increased wind-energy use, forecasts show.
ABEeolica also said an estimated 280,179 people will be working in the wind-energy sector by 2020 because its estimates show that each additional megawatt of installed capacity creates 15 jobs.
Investment in wind energy in Brazil during 2014 will total nearly $8.8 billion.
A total of 202 wind farms are currently in operation in Brazil, while 378 others are in the construction phase.
Brazil's south and northeast account for most of the country's wind-energy production and are the regions with the most wind potential, ABEeolica told.