By Leticia Fucuchima
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil’s first energy auction exclusively aimed at small and medium-sized dams will generate around 5.5 billion reais ($1 billion) in investments, power regulator Aneel said on Friday.
The auction, resulting in 815 megawatts (MW) of capacity, included 65 plants generating up to 50 MW each, said Aneel.
Contracted for 20 years, the projects – which can include new plants or expansions of existing ones – are expected to start supplying electricity from January 2030, according to the auction rules.
The auction is a step forward toward Brazil’s energy transition, Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira said at an event in Brasilia, noting that smaller hydro plants have limited impact on the environment.
Brazil could also expand hydro energy from major dams, Silveira said. He said he has spoken with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva about moving forward with new large-scale hydroelectric projects, after Brazil signed a cooperation agreement with Bolivia to harness the potential of the Madeira River, in the Amazon region.
Brazil stopped building new large-scale hydroelectric projects after Belo Monte, a project considered controversial due to its environmental impacts on the Amazon and on Indigenous communities.
($1 = 5.4212 Brazilian reais)
(Reporting by Leticia Fucuchima; writing by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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