Mandu Cogeneration Plant

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The Mandu cogeneration project involves the expansion of a cogeneration plant fuelled with sugar cane bagasse from 4.8 MW to 25 MW in the municipality of Guaira, state of Sao Paulo. The expansion was expected to be completed in May 2006. Mandu was owned by local sugar and ethanol company Cristalsev until May 2010, when it was acquired by Guarani S.A., a subsidiary of the French group Tereos International (60.44%) and the state-owned company Petrobras (39.56%). The project cost was estimated at US$15.84 million (44.8 million real). In November 2004, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimiento Economico e Social (BNDES) approved a US$12.7 million (35.9 million real) credit facility to Mandu. The facility included a direct loan of US$6.3 million and indirect facilities through Unibanco (US$4.1 million) and Itau (US$2.3 million). The loan from BNDES was approved under the Financial Support Program for Investments in Alternative Sources of Electric Energy (PROINFA). PROINFA was a government sponsored renewable energy program in which wind, biomass, and small hydro projects selected for development received access to BNDES financing and/or were guaranteed 20-year power sales contracts with federal utility Eletrobras. Commercial operation commenced in July 2006. In 2011, the power plant capacity was expanded to 65 MW. Commercial operations on the new 40 MW unit commenced in July 2011. The total investment directed to the expansion amounted to US$ 57.9 million (BRL 94.5 million). In 2013, a new generation unit was added to the power plant, whose total capacity reached 90 MW. This new unit commenced operations in July 2013. The investment on this new unit was estimated at US$ 40.1 million (BRL 94.5 million)