Maranhão is the main beneficiary of a megaproject in the electricity sector, with Chinese capital. It is a 1,500 km transmission line that will be built by State Grid Brazil Holding (SGBH), a subsidiary of the Asian conglomerate State Grid. The budget is superlative: R$18 billion. Geared 100% towards the transport of renewable energy produced in the region, this is one of the projects with the highest value in the entire economy of the Northeast.
According to CEO Sun Peng, this is the the multinational’s largest project outside of China.
This TL corresponds to Complete Lot 1, which was part of the auction held by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) in December last year and ended up being sold by State Grid Brazil Holding at a discount of 39.9% in relation to the initial value. It was the largest transmission package ever auctioned in the history of the Brazilian electricity sector.
The signing of the concession contract between the regulatory body and the winner took place on April 3rd. The term is 30 years.
Last week, the The concessionaire’s board of directors met, in São Luís, with governor Carlos Brandão and representatives from Aneel to discuss the beginning of implementation of the enterprise. The estimate is that nine thousand jobs will be created, both direct and indirect, in Maranhão alone.
“We started the project,” said the head of the state executive. “This investment will generate economic growth and thousands of jobs, combining development and sustainability,” he added. He highlighted that this is the first LT focused exclusively on renewable energy which will be built in Maranhão.
Electrical sector: check the details of State Grid’s LT
The State Grid package includes the construction, operation and maintenance of the 800 kV Ultra-High Voltage Direct Current Transmission System (UATCC), interconnecting the Graça Aranha (MA) and Silvânia (GO) substations. O project will cut through the states of Maranhão, Tocantins and Goiás. The largest extension will be in the Maranhão market.
In addition to this LT, converter substations in the municipalities of Graça Aranha and Silvânia are included, where the structure that already exists on site will be expanded. Two electrode lines will also be implemented (one in each substation) to enable UHVDC transmission.
To implement the project, the State Grid Brazil Holding created a new division, Graça Aranha-Silvânia Transmissora de Energia (GATE).
State Grid expands business in Brazil
A State Grid celebrates the expansion of its business in the electricity sector national.
“With GATE, SGBH expands its presence in Brazil, reinforcing its long-term operating perspective and transmitting energy generated by clean and renewable sources, thus providing greater security to the National Interconnected System [SIN]”, states the dealership.
“This venture represents a new chance for State Grid to increase the transmission of energy generated by renewable sources in Brazil in the Northeast Region, to the large consumer centers, which are in the Center-West and Southeast regions”, highlights the company.
The company also emphasizes that “with this achievement, the SGBH intensifies technological cooperation and synergy between China and Brazil, in the year in which we celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries”.
Who is State Grid in the electricity sector?
State Grid Brazil Holding (SGBH) is part of the State Grid Corporation of China group. The Brazilian subsidiary has been operating in the transmission area of the electricity sector since 2010. Investments already made in the country total R$30 billion.
With 25 dealerships, seven regional units and 30 maintenance bases, the holding currently operates 16 thousand kilometers of LTs that pass through 13 states. It is the equivalent of 10% of the entire Brazilian electrical network, which guarantees SGBH to be among the largest transmission players in Brazil.
Among the company’s main projects are the transmission lines at the Belo Monte Plant, located in Altamira (PA), on the Xingu River.
These LTs transport energy from the North to the Southeast of Brazil. They are the largest structures of their kind, worldwide, that use ultra-high voltage technology. This is a state-of-the-art system aimed at transporting large blocks of energy.
Understand what happens in the NE transmission sector
After the national blackout recorded in August last year, Aneel has been speeding up LT auctions, as the incident would have started with a breakdown that overloaded transmission in the Northeast.
The final report from the National Electric System Operator (ONS) pointed out as the cause of the problem a failure in the performance of wind and solar farm equipment, located close to the Quixadá – Fortaleza II transmission line, in Ceará.
Since then, the auctions have been largely focused on attracting new LTs in the northeastern states, with the aim of guaranteeing the necessary infrastructure for the transport of electricity, given the unprecedented growth of renewable energy generation in the region. The largest wind producers in the country are Rio Grande do Norte, Bahia, Ceará and Piauí.
Among the major projects in this series of new Aneel concessions is an investment of R$5 billion by Eletronorte (Holding Eletrobras), which covers 1,991 km in Ceará, where 11 transmission lines and four energy substations will be installed.
Read more about the electrical sector:
Eletronorte invests R$5 billion in transmission lines that cut the CE
Auction awards energy transmission projects in 14 states
