By Leticia Fucuchima
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Italian cablemaker Prysmian has shifted around management in Brazil and Latin America as it gears up local plants to boost supply to the electricity sector and future offshore wind farms in the region, the company told Reuters.
Raul Gil Boronat, who led Prysmian in Brazil, took over as CEO for Latin America earlier this year. He was replaced in the country by Emerson (NYSE:EMR) Tonon, who previously was vice president of operations for the region.
The swap comes as Prysmian bets on fresh demand for the energy sector in the Latin American market, with increased need for cables for generation, transmission and distribution and with the development of the first offshore wind projects in Brazil, which rely on submarine cables to deliver energy.
"Everyone is talking about offshore wind in Brazil, the message we have for the market is that the supply chain for cables will be ready," Boronat told Reuters.
The company has been investing in its industrial plants in Espirito Santo state to ramp up production of cables for offshore wind farms.
Half of Prysmian's annual capex for Brazil will be used to prepare its plants, according to Tonon.
"It's around $5 million a year of investment to increase capacity at (two) plants," he said.
In recent years, Brazil has made a push toward offshore wind farms as an option for producing renewable energy.
According to environment protection agency Ibama, almost 100 projects for wind farms off the Brazilian coast have applied for environmental licenses, adding up to 234 gigawatts (GW) of projected installed capacity.
The country, however, is still lacking a regulatory framework for the segment, which slows the progress of projects.
"We would like a little more speed and agility in the concessions, in the auctions," Boronat said.