Brazilian utility sector regulator Aneel has authorized test operations at generator unit 3 of the 855-MW Foz do Chapeco hydropower project, according to regulatory filings.
The generator has 214MW installed capacity. The hydro plant has four generators.
Commercial operations at the plant’s second generation unit were launched in November 2010.
The first generator began commercial operation in October 2010.
The hydro plant is 51 percent-owned by utility group CPFL Energia and sits on the border of southern states Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.
Brazilian federal power company Eletrobras Furnas holds a 40 percent stake in the hydro plant, and local power company CEEE the remaining 9 percent.
When completed in February 2011, the plant will have an installed capacity of 855 MW and, on average, 432 MW of assured energy — enough to supply 25 percent of all power needs in the state of Santa Catarina or around 18 percent in Rio Grande do Sul, Business News Americas reported previously.
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