ENEL GREEN POWER STARTS CONSTRUCTION OF NEW HYDRO PLANT IN BRAZIL

With an installed capacity of 102 MW, the hydro complex Apiacás will be capable of generating up to around 490 GWh/year.
A 1.2 MW stand-alone photovoltaic facility will also be constructed to reduce power consumption at the construction site.
An expected overall investment of around 287 million US dollars will be required to construct the complex.

Rome- Rio de Janeiro, March 31st, 2014 – Enel Green Power has started construction works at the new Apiacás hydroelectric complex, in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Apiacás will consist of a cascading sequence of three power plants, named “Salto Apiacás”, “Cabeza de Boi” and “Fazenda”, comprising seven turbines of around 14.5 MW each, for an overall installed capacity of 102 MW.

Once fully operational, the Apiacás hydro complex will be capable of generating up to an approximate 490 GWh each year, therefore meeting the country’s high energy demand which is estimated to grow at an average annual rate of 4% until 2020.

A thin-film photovoltaic facility will be installed to reduce power consumption on the construction site. The facility is a stand-alone one, which means it is not connected to the grid. The photovoltaic plant will add a further 1.2 MW of installed capacity. Once the hydro complex will be completed, the photovoltaic plant will keep operating, therefore adding its own renewable power to the green energy produced by the new hydro plants.

The new hydro complex is held by Enel Green Power Cabeza de Boi S.A., Enel Green Power Fazenda S.A., Enel Green Power Salto Apiacás S.A., subsidiaries of Enel Brasil Participações Ltda. The hydro complex will be completed and enter operation in the first half of 2016.

Construction of the hydro complex, in line with the growth targets set out in the 2013-2017 Enel Green Power business plan, requires a total investment of around 287 million US dollars, financed through the Enel Green Power Group’s own sources.

Enel Green Power was awarded the contract to build the Apiacás complex in a 2013 public auction, the “New Energy Auction” named “A-5”. The auction was launched by the Agência Nacional da Energia Elétrica (ANEEL).

The project is supported by a thirty-year PPA, a contract to purchase the power generated by the complex, which will be delivered to the national grid.

In Brazil, Enel Green Power currently has around 210 MW of installed capacity, of which 93 MW from hydro and the remainder from wind power.

Enel Green Power is the Enel Group company fully dedicated to the development and management of renewable energy sources at the international level, with operations in Europe and the Americas. The company generated over 29 billion kWh in 2013 from water, sun, wind and the Earth’s heat - enough to meet the energy needs of more than 10 million households and avoid the emission of over 20 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Enel Green Power is a world leader in the sector thanks to its well-balanced generation mix, providing generation volumes well over the sector average. The company has an installed capacity of approximately 8,900 MW from a mix of sources including wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass. Currently, the company has approximately 750 plants operating in 16 countries in Europe and the Americas.

In Latin America, Enel Green Power runs renewable energy plants in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Chile and Brazil, with a total installed capacity of nearly 1,200 MW as of today. Specifically, in the wind sector, in addition to the projects under construction in Brazil, the company has 24 MW of installed wind capacity in Costa Rica, 144 MW in Mexico as well as 180 MW in Chile. The company is also constructing the 99 MW Taltal wind farm in Chile as well as the Sureste (102 MW) and Dominica (100 MW) wind farms in Mexico. With its century-long experience in the field of geothermal energy, Enel Green Power is also developing new opportunities in this sector. Again in Chile, the company is exploring several concessions with a potential capacity exceeding 100 MW.

In Brazil, through Endesa, the Enel Group also operates around 1 GW of installed capacity, while in the distribution field, with some 6 million customers, the Group operates in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Cearà. In the transmission sector, Endesa operates an interconnection line between Brazil and Argentina.

 

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