Riachao Wind Farm

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The Brazilian company Queiroz Galvao was granted authorizations to build five wind power plants located in the municipality of Ceara Mirim, state of Rio Grande do Norte (150 MW in total capacity). The following special purpose companies were created to manage the power plants: * Central Eolica Acari - EOL Riachao I (30 MW) * Central Eolica Albuquerque - EOL Riachao II (30 MW) * Central Eolica Anemoi - EOL Riachao IV (30 MW) * Central Eolica Apeliote - EOL Riachao VI (30 MW) * Central Eolica Arena - EOL Riachao VII (30 MW) The 30-year contracts were signed with the regulatory agency ANEEL in May 2012. The total investment in the power plants was estimated at US$ 205 million (BRL 610 million). The five power plants were built to sell electricity in the Brazilian spot market. They commenced commercial operations in May 2015. In September 2015, the state-owned bank BNDES approved a US$ 100.6 million (BRL 335.7 million) loan to the project. The projects 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. Finally, the electricity sold by the company is not subject to sectoral taxes. In 2012, the projects applied for carbon credits.