Interligacao Eletrica do Madeira (IEMA)

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In November 2008, Consorcio Madeira Transmissao, an association of CTEEP (51%) and state-owned FURNAS (24.5%) and CHESF (24.5%), was awarded in a competitive bidding process the contract to build and operate 2375-km of transmission lines and two conversion stations located in the states of Mato Grosso, Rondonia, Goias, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais. Besides Consorcio Madeira Transmissao, other companies took part in the contest, though only one participated in the final stage of the process: TME Trans (which belongs to the Brazilian company Neoenergia). The bidding criteria set by the regulatory agency ANEEL was the lowest required annual revenue. Consorcio Madeira Transmissao presented the lowest offer, a value of US$ 96.5 million (BRL 176.6 million), 0.21% below the ceiling set by the regulatory agency. The contract was signed in February 2009, and the sponsors created the company Interligacao Eletrica do Madeira (IEMA) to lead the project during the 30-year contract period. The sponsors committed to invest US$ 1.8 billion (BRL 3.5 billion) in the transmission line. In September 2010, the sponsor was granted a US$ 284.1 million (BRL 500 million) loan from BNDES. In December 2011, BNDES granted an additional US$ 171.6 million (BRL 280 million) loan to the company to finance the infrastructure works. Finally, in October 2012 the project reached financial closure when BNDES approved a US$ 922 million (BRL 1800 million) loan package to the project. The construction works commenced in 2010 and were expected to be concluded by 2012. As of March 2013, construction works were behind schedule and operations were expected to commence by April 2013. Commercial operations commenced in August 2013.