Developers commit US$2bn in Brazil energy auction

A consortium comprising Cemig and Light won the concession to build and operate the 150MW Itaocara hydroelectric plant in Rio de Janeiro state on Thursday.

The joint venture secured the project by bidding a wholesale energy price of 154.99 reais (US$51)/MWh, according to federal power trade chamber CCEE.

The companies had previously won the right to develop the project but rescinded the license in August 2013 due to environmental permit delays.

Located on the Paraíba do Sul river, dividing the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, the plant's dam was expected to flood an area of 41.5km2 under the original project design.

The consortium secured a mean physical guarantee of 93.4MW from the plant over a 30-year supply period.

NATURAL GAS MEGA-PLANT

The largest project auctioned at the round was the 1.5GW Porto de Sergipe I gas-fired plant in Brazil's northeast.

Local news portal Exame said the plant's concession was won by local developer Genpower Energy.

In total, 14 new generation projects were clinched by developers at Thursday's auction.

All due online in January 2020, the facilities will require total investments of 6bn reais (US$2bn), according to power sector regulator Aneel.

Contracts were secured for 10 hydroelectric plants totaling (346MW), three biomass-fired thermal plants (111MW) and one gas-fired thermal plant (1.5GW).

The hydropower plants will be built in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, Matos Gross do Sul, Paraná and Rio de Janeiro. Thermal plants will be located in Bahia, Minas Gerais, Goiás and Sergipe.

The auction attracted bids for energy contracts from 26 electricity distributors, including Light, Amazonas Energia, Celpe and Eletropaulo, who between them accounted for 40% of contracts signed, according to CCEE.