The Brazilian Federal Government has signed energy transmission contracts worth R$21.7 billion ($4.3 billion). The contracts stem from an auction held in December 2023.
The projects will extend transmission lines by 4,471 kilometers and add substations with a capacity of 9.840 MVA across the states of Goiás, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Tocantins. Construction is expected to last 60 to 72 months, generate jobs, and improve interconnection between the Northeast and Central-South regions.
“This means generating jobs, not only in the actual construction sites of these projects, but also in the distribution to the entire production chain, including machinery, equipment, and other resources, a large part of which are already produced in Brazil, Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, said. “So, there will be demand for productive units in several Brazilian states, generating the need to hire specialized personnel in the energy sector, including the production and distribution of solar and wind power.”
He further emphasized that alongside the anticipated benefits for the energy sector, the outcomes of these actions strengthen the country’s regained credibility on both national and international stages.
“We held the three auctions, resulting in R$60 billion ($12 billion) in hired construction projects. This is Brazil’s largest infrastructure project, and we were successful in all of the auctions. The average markdown we obtained from the national and international companies that took part in them was of 39%. Beyond its effective results and what they mean to the industry of clean energy, these auctions have a symbolic aspect for the country: Brazil has regained credibility with national and international investors,” Silveira said.
China’s State Grid, which won the largest auction lot, pledged an additional R$200 billion ($40 billion) investment in Brazil’s energy sector. Its project is a R$18.1 billion ($3.6 billion), 1,500-kilometer bipole transmission line that will run across the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, and Goiás.
