Matrincha Transmissora de Energia (TP Norte)

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In March 2012, Consorcio Sino-Copeliano, a partnershiip of the Brazilian state-owned company Copel (49%) and the Chinese company State Grid (51%), was awarded in a competitive bidding process the contract to build and operate the 1005-km transmission line connecting Paranaita-Claudia-Paranatinga-Ribeiraozinho, located at the state of Mato Grosso. Six other companies took part in the contest: ABENGOA CONCESSOES BRASIL HOLDING S/ A; CONSORCIO PARANAITA; CONSORCIO TRANSMISSAO TELES PIRES; ELECNOR TRANSMISSAO DE ENERGIA S/A; ISOLUX ENERGIA E PARTICIPACOES S/A; and NEOENERGIA S.A. The bidding criteria set by the regulatory agency ANEEL was the lowest required annual revenue. Consorcio Sino-Copeliano presented the lowest offer, a total value of US$ 64.8 million (BRL 126.4 million), 43% below the ceiling set by the regulatory agency. The contract was signed in May 2012, and the sponsors created the company Matrincha Transmissora de Energia (TP Norte) S.A. to lead the project during the 30-year contract period. The sponsor committed to invest US$ 764.7 million (BRL 1800 million) in the transmission line. In December 2013, Matrincha Transmissora was awarded a US$ 293.7 million (BRL 691.4) million loan from the state-owned bank BNDES. Environmental clearance was awarded in February 2013. Construction works commenced in June 2013 and were expected to be concluded by January 2015. 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 accelated depreciation methods of accounting for construction expenditures. In August 2014, the sponsors were granted a US$ 150.2 million (BRL 353 million) 2-year bank guarantee provided by Banco Santander and HSBC. In May 2016, the sponsors were granted an additional US$ 78.7 million in loans from the same financial institutions.