Brazil

  • Report: Investment in Renewables Hit Record High in 2019

    Financial support for installations of offshore wind projects helped investment in renewable energy capacity hit a record high in 2019, according to data from research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) released Jan. 16. The group said worldwide investment in renewables was $282.2 billion last year, up 1% from $280.2 billion in 2018. Financing of offshore wind projects, […]

  • ABB wins contract to upgrade Copel hydroelectric power plant in Brazil

    ABB’s digital solutions and engineering services will improve availability and reliability of power in the State of Paraná, with ABB winning a $US2.5 million contract to upgrade Copel’s Governador José Richa hydro power plant. ABB will provide excitation systems and speed regulation for four generator units at the 20-year-old Governador José Richa[i]  hydro power plant […]

  • Siemens selected to deploy, operate and maintain cogeneration plant in Brazil

    Braskem, the largest petrochemical company in Latin America, recently entered into an agreement with Siemens to modernize a cogeneration power and steam plant at its Petrochemical Complex in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Completion of the project is expected in early 2021. Siemens will be responsible for implementation and the 15-year operation of an electric and steam […]

  • Siemens Gamesa awarded order for 128 MW for a Voltalia wind project in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

    Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) recently signed its third contract with Voltalia in Brazil to supply the wind project Ventos da Serra do Mel 2 (VSM 2). The scope of the contract with Voltalia, recognized international player in renewable energy with a presence in 18 countries, includes the supply of 36 units of the SG […]

  • POWER Digest [December 2018]

    Veolia Hungary Creates VPP Portfolio. Veolia Hungary in October acquired a 51% ownership share in CHP Eromu Kft., the first step in a process for Veolia to create a virtual power plant (VPP) portfolio. The

  • ABB to Improve Power Supply and Reliability in Brazil

    ABB has signed a contract worth about $20 million with Furnas – Centrais Elétricas S.A. to supply electrical systems that will enable existing alternating current (AC) lines to transmit higher levels of power to the densely populated Southeast of Brazil. The installation is located close to Brasilia, Brazil’s capital. The order was booked in the […]

  • Hydro Project Overcomes Physical, Social Obstacles

    Hydropower is Brazil’s major source of electricity. The country is moving toward more generation from solar and wind, and away from so-called “mega dams,” but what could be a final mammoth hydro project

  • Hydropower Grows but Industry Is Changing

    New hydropower capacity installed worldwide plunged 36% in 2017 compared to 2016, but the sector remains optimistic about its future despite a transitioning role for hydropower away from baseload power and

  • Siemens Gamesa secures Brazil’s largest-ever contract: 136 turbines for Iberdrola

    The company will deliver a total of 471 MW to a wind complex comprising 15 developments Siemens Gamesa is the number-two turbine OEM in Brazil with a market share of 24% Siemens Gamesa has reinforced its position in Brazil having signed its largest ever contract* in this market. The company will supply a total of […]

  • GE Signs Historic $300M Transactional Services Deal to Help Improve Maintenance Inspections of 11 Petrobras Power Plants in Brazil

    BADEN, SWITZERLAND (April 16, 2018) — In a historic agreement, GE’s Power Services business (NYSE: GE) announced today that it will service power generation equipment in 11 power plants owned by Petrobras, Brazil’s majority state-owned oil company. Valued at more than $300 million, the deal represents GE’s largest transactional power generation services agreement in Latin […]

  • MHPS Announces First Brazilian Win for JAC Gas Turbine

    LAKE MARY, Florida (February 14, 2018) — Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) celebrated its first win in Brazil for the technical selection of its M501 JAC Gas Turbine for the Vale Azul II Project. The plant, which will have a contracted output of 466MW in combined cycle, was selected in the A-6 Brazilian Electricity Auction […]

  • More Countries Banking on Competitive Auctions Over Subsidies to Stimulate Renewables 

    News about the rate at which new renewable power capacity is being added to grids around the world has been overshadowed by a remarkable trend that could revolutionize the renewables sector. Over the past few

  • U.S. LNG Exports Surge in 2016—But Not Where They Were Expected [Updated]

    The U.S. took a big step toward becoming a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2016 as Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass export terminal in Louisiana came online early last year and upgrades to the Panama Canal that opened in June made shipments to the Pacific region considerably easier. Data from the Department of […]

  • Brazil’s Environmental Agency Halts 8-GW Amazon Hydropower Project

    Brazil’s environmental protection agency, IBAMA, in early August canceled development permits for an 8-GW hydroelectric project on concerns about its social and ecological impacts. If built as proposed by a consortium of multinational companies—including Brazilian parastatal Eletrobras and private sector partners GDF Suez/Engie, EDF, Camargo Correa, Neoenergia, COPEL, and Endesa Brasil—the São Luiz do Tapajós […]

  • Major Challenges in Further Renewable Integration, Report Says

    Global resources of variable renewable energy—primarily wind and solar—despite breakneck growth over the past two decades, are beginning to run up against technological and policy limitations on further deployment, and future growth will depend on significant changes in policy and grid design, according to a new report. Released on September 20, Variable Renewable Energy Sources […]

  • A Power Famine for Colombia But a Feast for Brazil, Paraguay

    Droughts attributed to the El Niño phenomenon have gripped Venezuela’s neighbor Colombia. Bogotá in April prepared to ration power and instituted mandatory reductions in consumption, warning that

  • Belo Monte Hydro Plant Stunned, Revived Again

    Legal battles to stall the 11-GW Belo Monte hydroelectric dam—being built on the Xingu River in Amazon forest for one of the world’s largest power plants—are raging on in Brazil (Figure 1). In January

  • Duke Energy Mulls Sale of International Power Plants

    Duke Energy is considering the sale of all or most of its international power plants, about 4,400 MW dispersed throughout Central and South America. The company’s international business segment, Duke Energy International (DEI), was forced to make the disclosure in light of a required statement from its Brazilian subsidiary, Duke Energy International, Geração Paranapanema S.A. […]

  • Reports: Renewables Were Revived in 2014

    Despite plunging oil prices, 2014 was a formidable year for renewables, according to two reports released in early 2015. According to the “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015”—the annual report prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance—energy investments […]

  • Drought Stresses Brazilian Electricity Market

    A lack of rainfall is hitting the power industry especially hard in parts of Brazil. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the country depends on hydroelectricity for more than 75% of its electric power supply (Figure 2). But with reservoir levels at historic lows in some places, more electricity has been required from […]

  • A New Record for the Longest Transmission Link

    A 7,100-MW±600-kV high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) line that runs 2,375 kilometers (km) from new hydropower plants on the Madeira River in the Amazon Basin to major load centers in southeastern Brazil

  • Change and Opportunity in Brazil

    Brazil’s electricity market is vast: the largest in Latin America and 10th largest in the world, with an installed capacity of 121,000 MW. Download the report.