Rio PCH 1 Small Hydro Plants

active

In October 2007, the consortium RIO PCH I was granted the Installation Environmental License from federal regulator Aneel and immediately began constructing the Pedra do Garrafao and Pirapatenga Hydroelectric Plants on the Itabapoana river. The 25.14 MW Pedra do Garrafao plant was to be located between the municipalities of Bom Jesus de Itabapoana (Rio de Janeiro state) and Sao Jose do Calçado (Espirito Santo state) and was to include 16 km of transmission lines connected to the Escelsa network. The 39 MW Pirapetinga plant was to be located between Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ) and Mimoso do Sul (ES) and was to include 6 km of transmission lines connected to the privately held Ampla network. RIO PCH I was a special purpose vehicle comprised of Neoenergia [Brazil, 75%] and Performance Centrais Hidreletricas Ltda (PCH) [Brazil, 25%]. Neoenergia, in turn was owned Previ [Brazil, 49.01%], Banco do Brasil [Brazil, 11.99%], and Iberdrola SA [Spain, 39%]. The project was independently developed by Performance Centrais Hidreletricas Ltda (PCH) after it obtained a license to act as an independent power producer in December 2002 from federal regulator Aneel. In June 2006, PCH sold its energy in an auction organized by Aneel to supply power starting in 2009 for 124.99 Real per Megawatt Hour. Neoenergia acquired its 75% stake in the project in May 2006 (Neonergia's shareholders are Iberdrola, 39%; Previ, 52.19%; and state-owned Banco do Brasil, 8.81%). Total investment for both projects was estimated at R$ 200 million (US $109.3 million). The project reached financial closure in October 2008 with a credit from the Brazilian development bank BNDES for approximately 70% of the project cost with a loan of R$ 121.2 million (US $66.2 million) for Rio PCH 1. The remainder of the project was to be financed through equity. The project became operational in June 2009. Project Became operational in June 2009 Investments converted from Real to USD using the period average, market rate for 2008 published by the IMF.