SAO PAULO--Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA (EBR, ELET6.BR), or
Eletrobras, is seeking to build 200 megawatts of wind-power
projects in China together with China's Three Gorges Corp., the
Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported Monday.
Government-controlled Eletrobras, which already has a memorandum
of understanding with Chinese transmission-line company State Grid
Corp., will take a minority stake in the offshore wind project
through its Furnas subsidiary, Estado said, citing Olga Simbalista,
Furnas's director of planning, management and investment.
The size of the stake and how much the stake will require
Eletrobras to invest is still undefined, Estado said. The
partnership could also be formed via EDP Energias de Portugal
(EDPFY, EDP.LB), the Portuguese power company operating in Brazil
in which Three Gorges took a stake last year, Estado said.
Brazilian officials signed an agreement to work with Three
Gorges in February, at which point the possibility of the two
companies working together on the wind power project was put
forward, Estado said. Though Furnas was offered a partnership in
onshore wind projects as well, Eletrobras wants to work with Three
Gorges only on sea-based wind farms in order to better understand
the technology, Estado said.
Brazil has been adding close to 2,000 megawatts of
wind-generated electricity to its power capacity each year as it
seeks to diversify its hydroelectric-dominated power matrix.
The two companies may also work together to try to sell
solar-power projects at future energy auctions, Ms. Simbalista was
quoted as saying.
Write to Paulo Winterstein at
paulo.winterstein@dowjones.com.