SAO PAULO--Ten groups plan to bid for Brazilian transmission
projects at an auction to be held Wednesday, Brazil electricity
regulator Aneel said Tuesday.
Brazil plans to auction licenses for six power-transmission
projects, including a lot that failed to attract bidders in an
auction in April. This is the second transmission auction of the
year.
The bidding groups include: Abengoa Concessoes; Alupar
Investimento; Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios; Chesf, a unit of
state-controlled utility Eletrobras; CEEE-GT and Eletrosul, another
unit of Eletrobras; Cia Paranaense de Energia, or Copel; Elecnor
SA; Iberdrola-controlled Neoenergia; Orteng Energia; and Taesa, the
transmission arm of utility Cemig.
Brazil is pursuing a massive expansion of its transmission
network as it adds generating capacity in previously untapped
regions. A plodding environmental licensing process has slowed the
expansion of Brazil's transmission network, which has resulted in
frequent blackouts in recent years.
The winner at these transmission auctions is determined by
whichever bidder accepts the lowest annual revenue from the
assets.
Brazil will auction off rights to build 678 kilometers of
transmission lines, as well as build four electric substations. The
projects are located in the Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul,
Parana, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais and Bahia.
Brazil's government-controlled utility Eletrobras swept the
auction last month, taking all three lots that were bid on. The
fourth lot, a 90-kilometer transmission line, received no bidders.
The lot details were revised by Aneel after another study and the
revised project will be included in Wednesday's auction.
Write to Paulo Winterstein at paulo.winterstein@dowjones.com
