A technical presentation on the feasibility studies of the 3,150-MW Santo Antonio hydroelectric project is available on the Internet site of Brazilian electricity regulator Agencia Nacional de Energia Eletrica (ANEEL).
Brazil’s Ministerio de Minas e Energia (MME) has set October 30 for the concession auction of Santo Antonio, one of the two big projects comprising the 6,450-MW Madeira River complex. (HNN 8/14/07)
The presentation, available at www.aneel.gov.br/complexomadeira, includes a video recording of a clarification session presented by the companies that developed the studies, Construtora Norberto Odebrecht and Furnas Centrais Eletricas. Also available are numerous documents on Santo Antonio and its sister project, 3,300-MW Jirau, also on the Madeira.
MME launched the formal concession process in August, in which ANEEL is to issue formal bidding rules following a consultation process. Reports said the auction might be delayed from October 30 due to the extensive time needed to prepare rules and because some companies are taking longer than expected to form bidding consortia.
The ministry also said an auction will be held in 2008 for a concession to build the transmission line linking Santo Antonio to the national grid. Jirau is expected to be auctioned in early 2008.
The Jirau and Santo Antonio dams would be built 84 kilometers and 119 kilometers from the Bolivian border on the Madeira, an Amazon River tributary. The two hydro projects, with 44 turbines each, have an estimated cost of 22 billion reais (US$11.6 billion). MME said Santo Antonio is expected to begin delivering power in 2012 under a 30-year contract.
For information, contact ANEEL at (55) 61-21928906; E-mail: [email protected].
