The Energy International unit of French utility Suez is to build a new cogeneration plant fuelled by sugarcane biomass in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Sao Joao thermo-electric power plant will have an installed capacity of 70MW, and will begin operations at the start of 2010.
The plant will be constructed in partnership with a local agro-industrial group, which will consume 47MW of the electricity and the steam produced by the plant. Tractebel Energia, Suez Energy International’s Brazilian generation company, will have a 63% stake in the project. The remainder will be held by the local agro-industrial group.
The plant will produce energy that will be sold by Tractebel Energia during the first alternative energy sources auctions organized in Brazil. Tractebel Energia sold 23MW at E55.3 per MWh to a pool of Brazilian distributors under a 15-year power purchase agreement.
BNDES, the development bank of Brazil, will finance up to 70% of the E60 million total investment cost of the plant through its special credit line for biomass projects.
Dirk Beeuwsaert, CEO of Suez Energy International, said: The project will further diversify Tractebel Energia’s sources of thermal production, and will apply for carbon credits in the carbon development mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol.
The sugar cane industry in Brazil is growing thanks to the production of bioethanol, which is already widely used by cars in Brazil as an environmentally friendly and cost-effective fuel.