J&F cannot use old plant in place of delayed ones, says Aneel technical note

Ámbar, energy company of the J&F group (owner of the global meat company JBS), cannot use an old plant in place of the company’s projects that are behind schedule – as the board of Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) had authorized ). This is the assessment of the technical area of ​​the autarchy.

The analysis of the topic involved three areas of Aneel, and the conclusion is in a final document signed by eight professionals from the agency.

Âmbar has four gas plants that won a type of auction to supply energy in the country, through the so-called PCS (Simplified Competitive Procedure). However, the ventures are behind schedule. While the new projects are not completed, the company has been seeking permission from the agency to sell energy from a 21-year-old thermal plant, Mário Covas (from Cuiabá).

There are eight legal provisions that veto Ambar’s claim, according to the technical note. Two of them are very exemplary, says the text of the document, in establishing that only new projects could participate in the PCS and that it would be prohibited to sell energy from a project other than that provided for in the procedure.

The technical note also states that the Mário Covas operation is not cheaper for the consumer, a recurring claim by Âmbar.

Attached to Âmbar’s process, the technical note will serve as a basis for the final decision of Aneel’s board of directors on the matter. There was an expectation that the process would be evaluated on Tuesday (14), but it did not enter the agenda. The issue may return to review on June 21.

CONTRARY REACTIONS

PCS, a new type of auction, offered a high fee for 14 new gas plants to be built quickly. The forecast is that they would raise the electricity bill by R$ 39 billion in three and a half years.

At that moment, the drought reduced the supply of water in the hydroelectric plants, and the generation of energy. In the assessment of Creg (Chamber of Exceptional Rules for Hydroenergetic Management, an interministerial body that operated during the crisis in the sector in 2021), the new thermal plants would be a support to increase storage in dams.

By rule, only plants that had never sold energy could participate in the auction. In other words, new projects. They should start operations on May 1st, pay a fine in case of delay, and have their contract terminated if they were not operating on August 1st.

According to Aneel, none of these plants was ready on the initial date, and the four Âmbar projects would be among the most delayed, with delivery expected in October.

Since January, Âmbar has been trying at the agency to put the energy from the Mário Covas thermal plant in place of the delayed projects. His first request was denied on January 25th. However, it filed a new demand on April 28, which was evaluated at a board meeting on May 17.

Âmbar’s claim was defended by the rapporteur of the matter, the director of Aneel Efrain Pereira da Cruz, who suggested and managed to approve a precautionary measure (provisional) in favor of the company. However, this second request was confidential, without having been submitted again to the technical area.

The injunction suspended the monthly fine of R$ 209 million and allowed Âmbar to receive payment for energy from Mário Covas. According to industry estimates, it would cost almost R$ 1 billion by the end of July, the deadline for Âmbar’s PCS projects to come into operation.

The measure was criticized in the sector, questioned by the TCU (Court of Accounts of the Union) and received opposition even from the Minister of Mines and Energy, Adolfo Sachsida. It also mobilized entities that appealed to Aneel to request the dismissal of the injunction and Âmbar’s claim.

On June 2, the agency’s interim director general, Camila Bomfim, suspended the injunction. The measure resumed the collection of the fine and interrupted the payments for energy from Mário Covas.

When contacted, Âmbar Energia did not respond until the publication of this text.