REB Cassino Wind Farm

active

The company, a subsidiary of Capital de Riesgo Global (a company of the Santander Group), was granted the authorizations to build three wind power plants located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (62 MW in total capacity ). The 35-year contracts were signed with the regulatory agency ANEEL in March 2011. The projects, which were set to be managed by REB Empreendimentos e Administradora de Bens S.A., were named: EOL REB Cassino I (22 MW) EOL REB Cassino II (20 MW) EOL REB Cassino III (20 MW) In August 2010, all three wind power plants took part in the same competitive bidding process to sell electricity to the regulated wholesale market , starting in 2013 (20-year power purchase agreement was signed guaranteeing the sale of electricity to the national grid). The average tariff offered in the bidding process by the power plants was US$ 69.2/MWh (BRL 136.6/MWh). The total investment in the project was estimated at US$ 117.3 million (BRL 276 million). As of October 2012, construction works had not yet commenced. Commercial operation were estimated to commence in November 2012. 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 accelerated depreciation methods of accounting for construction expenditures. Finally, the electricity sold by the company is not subject to sectoral taxes. In 2011, the sponsor applied for carbon credits. Construction works commenced in January 2013 and were in its final stages as of December 2013. Commercial operations were expected to commence in December 2014. In December 2014, the state-owned bank BNDES approved a US$ 93.3 million (BRL 219.3 million) loan to the project.