The Brazilian government plans to auction eight hydroelectric projects next year, according to deputy mines and energy minister Márcio Zimmermann.
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The government only auctioned two hydro plants in 2008: the 3.3GW Jirau on the Madeira river in the Amazon and 350MW Baixo do Iguaçú in Paraná state.
The plan for next year is to offer five hydro projects on the Parnaíba river in the northeast region as well as the 80MW Barra do Pomba, 50MW Cambuci and 11.1GW Belo Monte plants, Zimmermann told an energy event in Rio de Janeiro.
"For 2010, we're working to offer a few plants on the Teles Pires river and some from the Tapajós basin," he added.
The Belo Monte auction is tentatively scheduled for September 2009 and will be the biggest hydro project in Brazil since the massive 14GW Itaipú plant on the border with Paraguay.
"The idea is to auction the maximum number of available hydro sources," Mauricio Tolmasquim, president of federal energy planning company EPE, said at the same event.
