ANEEL auction ends with all 12 lots leased

The transmission auction of ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) closed on Thursday (19) with all 12 lots leased. The concessions are aimed at the construction of 2,470 km of power transmission lines and substations, with transformation capacity of 7,800 mega-volt-amperes (MVA). Companhia Transmissão de Energia Elétrica Paulista (Cteep) and construction and engineering companies led the event, which occurred in a climate of strong competition and record discounts that, on average, were 60.3%. The special secretary of the federal government's Investment Partnership Program (PPI), Martha Seiller, celebrated the result after the auction, according to Reuters. "As we play, never before in the history of this country... we had never exceeded the 60% discount mark," he said during a press conference. Controlled by Colombian ISA, Cteep was the highlight of the bid and finished three projects (1.6 and 7), all with discounts of more than 60%. ANEEL estimates that these projects should require R$ 1.33 billion of investments. Neoenergia, from the Spanish group Iberdrola, took a project, with a discount of 64%, while other electric, such as Equatorial, Energisa, Cemig, Taesa and China's State Grid and its subsidiary CPFL came to submit bids, but did not take. ANEEL pointed out that there were, on average, 10 companies in the competition for each project of the event, which was also a historical brand. The projects are located in 12 states: Acre, Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo. The auction has planned investments of around R$ 4.18 billion and a generation of 8,782,000 direct jobs, according to ANEEL. Transmission facilities must enter into commercial operation within 36 to 60 months from the signing of concession contracts.