Engie Brasil Energia expanding its renewable energy portfolio

Engie Brasil Energia is expanding its renewable energy portfolio, with several PV solar, wind and hydroelectric power projects underway and planned in Brazil.  

At the end of September, the company bought Assú Sol Geração de Energia SPE (special purpose company) for 41.3mn reais (US$7.51mn), which is the owner of the Assú Sol solar complex, in Assú municipality, Rio Grande do Norte state. 

The undertaking has installed capacity of 750MW and its energy will be earmarked for the free contracting environment. Assú Sol has a preliminary construction license, land contracts signed and the authorization request was filed with regulator Aneel. 

“The project is under development, and Engie Brasil Energia intends to proceed with implementation, subject to the approval of the investment according to the group’s governance,” a company spokesperson told BNamericas.

The transaction strengthens the French multinational’s presence in Rio Grande do Norte, where it operates the 102MWp Floresta solar PV plant and is investing 2.3bn reais to deploy the 434MW Santo Agostinho wind farm in the municipalities of Lages and Pedro Avelino, about 100km from Assú and scheduled to come online by March 2023. 

“Mobilization for the deployment of the undertaking has already begun, and the company is awaiting some authorizations for the effective start of the works,” the spokesperson said. 

Meanwhile, Engie is analyzing the acquisition of the Floresta and Paracatu solar plants with 158MWp, in Minas Gerais state, which are managed by its subsidiary Engie Solar. Their energy was contracted at an Aneel tender in 2015 and operations started in 2017 and 2019, respectively. 

Projects under development are the 250MW phase II of the Umburanas wind farm (pictured) and the 400MW Campo Largo and 90MW Alvoradasolar PV parks, in Bahia state. 

And, last August, the company concluded the implementation of the 361MW Campo Largo 2 wind farm in the municipalities of Umburanas and Sento Sé, in Bahia.

“In wind power, Engie intends to maintain a pace of growth that will ensure its relevance in this segment, establishing itself as one of the leaders. And it is also focused on the rebids of existing hydroelectric plants, as in the case of the Jaguara and Miranda hydro power plants,” the spokesperson added. 

Located in Minas Gerais, Engie bought the concessions for the 424MW Jaguara and 408MW Miranda plants from Cemig in 2017 for 3.5bn reais.

Engie has over 6,392MW of hydroelectric power capacity in Brazil. The amount excludes the 40% stake in the 3,750MW Jirau hydro plant in Rondônia state.

Wind and solar capacity totaled 1,365MW and thermoelectric capacity 1,202MW by the end of the second quarter.

Additionally, the company has 61.6MWp of solar PV distributed generation systems installed, 2,800km of transmission lines being deployed and operates 4,500km of gas pipelines through Transportadora Associada de Gás (TAG).