Centrais Eletricas da Paraiba (EPASA)

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The Brazilian company Termomanaus (see ID# 5536) was granted authorizations by the regulatory agency ANEEL to build four thermal power plants located in the states of Pernambuco (municipalities of Cabo de Santo Agostinho and Iguarassu), Paraiba (municipality of Conde) and Rio Grande do Norte (municipality of Santa Cruz). The power plants located in Pernambuco were named Termomanaus and Pau Ferro I and had capacities of 156.1 MW and 102.6 MW, respectively); the plant established in Paraiba, named Termoparaiba, had capacity of 170.8 MW; and the unit located in Rio Grande do Norte, named Termonordeste, had 170.8 MW in capacity. All power plants were set to use diesel and biodiesel as fuel. In April 2007 and December 2007, 35-year contracts were signed with the regulatory agency ANEEL allowing the company to operate in the electricity market as an independent producer. These authorizations granted the sponsor with the right to sell electricity in the Brazilian wholesale market. In July 2007, Termoparaiba and Termonordeste were also able to sign 15-year power purchase agreements were signed guaranteeing the sale of electricity to the national grid. Previously In 2006, Termomanaus and Pau Ferro I took part in a competitive bidding process to sell electricity to the regulated wholesale market (15-year power purchase agreements were signed guaranteeing the sale of electricity to the national grid). The initial shareholders of Termomanaus, which was renamed as Centrais Eletricas de Pernambuco (EPESA), were DC Energia e Participacoes Ltda (63%), Aruana Energia S.A. (32%) and other (5%). In 2010, EPESA requested that the authorizations granted for the construction of Termoparaiba and Termonordeste were transferred to Centrais Elétricas da Paraíba (EPASA). This request came as CPFL Energia acquired 51% of the shares of EPASA in November 2009 and provided the funding to complete the construction works on these two power plants. As of December 2009, the shareholding structure was as follows: CPFL (51%), DC Energia e Participações (31%), Aruana Energia (16%) and O&Z Incorporacao (2%). The investment committed to Termonordeste and Termoparaiba totaled US$ 304 million (BRL 608 million), of which US$ 155 million (BRL 310 million) represented the loan granted by CPFL. Construction works commenced in the first half of 2008, and operations commenced in mid-2009. In September 2011, the state-owned bank BNDES granted a US$ 124.6 million (BRL 203.3 million) loan to finance infrastructure works in the project.