Beberibe Wind Park

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In January 2007, Econergy International Plc [USA], entered into a joint venture agreement with Cataventos and Enventure Partners [Brazil], the developers of the 25.5 MW Beberibe Wind Park in the state of Ceara, Brazil. The Beberibe Wind Park was to be located at Praia das Fontes, 93 kilometers south of Fortaleza. in an area of approximately 70 hectares, where 32 wind turbines with a 800 kw generation capacity each were to be installed. Additionally, the project included a potency sub-station, tension sub-stations, underground collector distribution network and administrative and operating-base buildings. The partners formed Eco Energy Beberibe Ltda as a Specific Purpose Society (SPE), incorporated for developing and operating the Beberibe project. Econergy eventually purchased 100% of the shares in Eco Energy Beberibe Ltda in April 2007. In December 2008, Suez GDF, a subsidiary of Suez [France] acquired Econergy International Plc and all its subsidiaries. The Eco Energy project was included in Programa de Aceleraçao do Crescimento [Growth Acceleration Program] (PAC) and integrated Proinfa - Programa de Incentivo as Fontes Alternativas de Energia [Alternative Energy Sources Incentive Program]. Under the program, the federal power utility Eletrobras contracted for a 20-year period the electricity production of alternative projects to provide sustainable development of the sector. Tendering information was not available for the project. The total project cost was estimated at of R$ 140.9 million (US $77.0 million). In January 2008, BNDES, the Brazilian development bank approved a R$ 94.9 million (US $51.9) financing to Eco Energy Beberibe Ltda. BNDES's financing comprised 67% of the project's total investment. The loan had several recourse features, including an unsecured corporate guarantee and payment support from Econergy, which BNDES required until the completion of construction. These features were to fall off once the project's debt service reserve and operations and maintenance accounts were full. The project was also made feasible by a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Eletrobras, Brazil's government-owned electric company, at a starting tariff of R$ 202 (US $110.4) per MWh signed in April 2007. The project became operational in September 2008. Figures were converted to USD based on the market rate, period average for 2008 published by the IMF.