Brazil may sell rights to construct at least 3,700 MW of energy capacity before the end of this year as it auctions off as many as 10 new hydropower projects, the country's energy research corporation reported.

The electricity regulator of Brazil is preparing the auctions and may have environmental licenses ready for the projects before the end of this year, the president of state-controlled energy research company EPE said.

The auction may include four hydropower projects on the Teles Pires River in Brazil's center-west region and five hydro projects on the Parnaiba River in the northeast. The government may also auction energy from the Santo Antonio do Jari dam in Brazil's Amazon region, officials told reporters in Sao Paulo.

The winning bids, which offer to sell energy from the dams at the lowest price, would need to begin producing energy by 2015, wire reports indicate.

Because the necessary licensing for some dams may not go through before the end of this year, Brazil may only auction some of the hydro power this year, officials said. The additional energy necessary to meet demand would likely be contracted through auctions of thermoelectric power next year that would come online in at most three years, according to wire reports.