(Bloomberg) — With Brazil’s development bank BNDES
offering less financing for small hydroelectric power projects,
the country’s energy regulator will let developers seek higher
rates at an energy auction planned for next month.
The regulator, Aneel, approved a ceiling price of 210 reais
($65) a megawatt-hour for small hydro projects, typically with
50 megawatts of capacity or less. That compares with maximum
prices of 164 reais a megawatt-hour in a similar auction in
November and 148 reais in June.
BNDES, formally Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico
& Social, will now finance no more than 50 percent of small
hydropower plants, compared with 70 percent in the past,
according to Andre Pepitone da Nobrega, director of Aneel.
In Brazil’s energy auctions, regulators set a ceiling and
developers bid down the price at which they are willing to
provide electricity from planned projects. The lowest bids win
contracts to sell power.
Regulators set a ceiling price of 281 reais a megawatt-hour
for thermal plants that burn coal, biomass and natural gas for
the April 30 auction. The projects must be complete within 5
years.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Anna Edgerton in Brasilia at
aedgerton@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net;
James Attwood at
jattwood3@bloomberg.net
Will Wade, Carlos Caminada