MPX (Brazil) and E.ON have entered into an agreement to form an equally owned joint venture for energy development and supply and trade activities in Brazil and Chile. The new partnership will aim to develop 20 GW of new power generating capacity in the two South American countries. This figure represents about 20% of the total current capacity in Brazil. The new JV will be responsible for developing both thermal energy and renewable energy sources.
Enel Green Power (EGP) has been awarded a concession for the construction of a 99 MW wind project in the Antofagasta region, Chile. The concession has been awarded by the Ministry of Energy and National Assets, after a recent tender. The location of the new project is on public land in the Taltal district.
EDP Renováveis' subsidiary in Brazil, EDP Renováveis Brasil, has been awarded four 20-year power purchase agreements at the A-5 auction about a week ago. The PPAs are for a total of 120 MW of electrical power generated at four wind farms, which are to be developed in Rio Grande do Norte, a state in Brazil.
Alstom has opened its new wind turbine manufacturing facility in Brazil, in the industrial complex of Camaçari, Bahia. The output capacity of the new facility will be 300 MW annually. This facility is also Alstom's first of this kind in Latin America, representing an investment of about EUR 20 million.
Alstom is establishing the Global Hydro Technology Center in Brazil. The center will be located in Taubaté, where Alstom has its largest factory for hydro products in the world. The facility manufactures electromechanical equipment for all hydro projects in Brazil, but also exports to other countries.
Pattern Energy has signed a 20-year PPA for the El Arrayan wind project, to be built on the coast of Chile. The PPA was signed with Minera Los Pelambres, a local mining company. This agreement puts the project an important step closer to its completion, and commercial operation.
The Chilean Ministry of Energy has recently released the results of a tender for awarding 20 geothermal development concessions. Five of these concessions have been awarded to Ormat Technologies. The awarded concession areas are Aroma, Quinohuen, Marimar, San Jose II and Sollipulli.
Panama's Secretary of Energy, Juan Manual Urriola, recently announced the country is soon going to reach two major renewable energy milestones – a solar project that will be completed in mid-2012, and a tender for the first wind farm project in Panama to be issued on November 8, 2011. The announcement was made during the opening of the VI Regional Integratio Forum, being held in Panama City.
A consortium of companies made up of Alstom, CESBE and Areva Koblitz, has been awarded the EPC contract by Consorcio Amapa Energia, for the 373.4 MW Santo Antonio do Jari hydroelectric plant which is to be built on the Jari River in Amazon region of Brazil. The power plant is to be commissioned in late 2014. The contract represents a EUR 310 million value for the companies, of which Alstom's share is EUR 100 million. Alstom will supply Kaplan turbines and electricicty generators, hydromechanical equipment and other systems. The power plant is of the run-of-river type, and won't rely on an accumulation reservoir, but rather will convert the energy of the river flow directly.
Panama's national power utility, Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica, S.A. (ETESA), has issued a tender calling for proposals for wind power generation. The proposals are to be based on an equivalent energy amount, for a 14 year period, from 2014-2028.
