Auction of transmission lines attracts R$ 15.3 billion in investments

The government granted this Thursday (30) the construction and operation of 5,400 kilometers of power transmission lines in the country, with investments estimated at R$ 15.3 billion. The projects are divided into 13 concessions and were awarded with discounts of up to 59.9%.

The projects are located in 13 states: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Rondônia. Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) estimates that the works will generate 31,600 jobs.

The three largest lots will have the function of reinforcing the transmission system for the flow of renewable energy generated in the Northeast and North of Minas Gerais, today one of the main bottlenecks in the Brazilian electricity sector.

Another lot offered on this farm reinforces the energy supply to Amapá, which has suffered major power cuts in recent years. In the largest of them, in 2020, most of the state spent almost a month living with interruptions.

“This auction brings a solution to some areas that have been discussed for a long time in Brazil, such as the north of Minas Gerais. This makes possible a very large number of ventures, mainly in renewable energy”, said the director of Aneel (National Energy Agency Electric), Hélvio Guerra.

In transmission line auctions, the company or consortium that is willing to receive the lowest annual revenue during the concession wins. There was great competition for the largest lots offered by Aneel.

The largest of them, with 1,700 kilometers of extension connecting Minas Gerais to São Paulo and expected investments of R$ 4.9 billion, went to Neoenergia. The lot had eight competitors and, after dispute by speakerphone, the winning proposal had a discount of 47.3%.

The other two large lots, with investments of R$ 3.6 billion each, were bought by Consórcio Verde and Cteep (Companhia de Transmissão de Energia Elétrica Paulista).

The first will build 1,200 kilometers of transmission lines and substations also in Minas Gerais and São Paulo. The second received a concession to operate 1,100 kilometers and substations in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.

“The success of this auction is only possible because today we have a safe and attractive environment for investments in the electricity sector”, said the deputy director general of Aneel, Camila Bomfim. “An environment that has been built over so many years, based on well-structured governance, legal certainty, stability and regulatory predictability.”

After the auction, the Minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira, said that the result demonstrates the confidence of the business sector in the country, the result of “a competent management of the president [Jair] Bolsonaro when choosing good ministers and appointing agency members [reguladora] committed.”

In his speech, he said that he “has to praise the role” of the former minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque, fired by Bolsonaro after a readjustment in the price of diesel in May, and said that the new holder of the portfolio Adolfo Sachsida “has the trust” of the president. Sachsida did not attend the event.