Brazil’s Cemig contracts renewable power from 197 MW of project capacity

Brazilian power business Compañía Energética de Minas Gerais S.A. (Cemig) – the fourth largest energy company in the country – contracted solar and wind electricity from 196.98 MW of project capacity in the energy auction it held on Friday.

The Minas Gerais state-owned company has signed 19-year power purchase agreements with the selected generation projects after holding its third procurement exercise. No information was provided on final prices.

The successful projects will have to begin delivering power in 2023 and the electricity will be traded by Cemig on the Brazilian free electricity market – the mercado livre de eletricidade – where power providers negotiate the conditions of electricity sale between themselves or directly with large energy consumers.

During its first renewable energy procurement auction, held in June 2018, Cemig contracted the power generated from 431 MW of solar and wind project capacity. In the second, in early October, the power company contracted clean energy from another 152 MW of capacity.

The tender rounds were introduced to replace 2,908 MW of generation capacity which Cemig lost last year when concessions at four Brazilian hydropower plants were renewed and it lost out to international rivals including Engie, Enel and China’s State Power Investment Corporation. The hydropower facilities are in São Simão (with 1.7 GW of generation capacity), Miranda (404 MW), Jaguara (424 MW) and Volta Grande (380 MW).