Brazilian federal development bank BNDES has approved loans totalling US$130M for three hydro projects with combined installed capacity of just over 68MW.
Two of the plants – 30MW Salto Curua and 10MW Salto Buriti – are sited in the state of Para on the river Curua, and are being developed by the Bertin group.
BNDES is financing 72% of the total cost of the Salto Curua scheme, which is estimated at nearly US$86M. The scheme involves construction of 200km of transmission line.
The bank is also financing US$20M, or two-thirds of the total cost, towards the construction of the Salto Buriti project. The project will be linked to the grid via the Salto Curua scheme.
Commercialisation of the projects was assured with energy purchase contracts, which are valid until 2032, the bank added.
The third plant is 28MW Porto das Pedras, which is being built on the river Sucuriu, in Mato Grasso state, by the Cornelio Brennand group.
The total investment cost for the Porto das Pedras project is US$67M, of which BNDES is financing 71%. The investment cost also includes construction of 21km of transmission line to connect to the grid of Empresa Energetica do Mato Grosso do Sul (Enersul). Commercialisation was also eased by energy purchase contracts, added BNDES.