ATE XVII Transmissora de Energia

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In December 2012, the Spanish company Abengoa was awarded the contract to build and operate the 286-km transmission line MILAGRES II - AÇU III, located at the states of Ceara, Paraiba and Rio Grande do Norte (500 kV in capacity). Besides Abengoa, three other bidders took part in the contest: Elecnor, CYMI Holding S.A and STN-Sistema de Transmissao Nordeste S.A. The bidding criteria set by the regulatory agency ANEEL was the lowest required annual revenue. Abengoa presented the lowest offer, a total value of US$ 16.4 million (BRL 32 million), 30.7% below the ceiling set by the regulatory agency. The contract was signed in February 2013, and the sponsors created the company ATE XVII Transmissora de Energia S.A. to lead the project during the 30-year contract period. The sponsor committed to invest US$ 67.4 million (BRL 225 million) in the project. In September 2015, the state-owned bank BNDES approved a US$ 59.3 million (BRL 198 million) loan to finance the project. The company was granted the right to take part in the government program called Regime Especial de Incentivos para o Desenvolvimento da Infra-Estrutura (Reidi). Companies selected to take part in this program were given tax cuts in the acquisition of capital equipment and construction material acquired both in the domestic and international markets (this incentive represented a cost reduction of about 9.25%). In addition, the company was allowed to use accelerated depreciation methods of accounting for construction expenditures.