Alexandre Rocha
São Paulo – The Participation in Brazilian Energy Investment Fund (FIP) may have participation by foreign investors. With initial investment of US$ 278 million, a value that may rise as high as US$ 450 million (in current figures), the FIP will have as its main objective investment in alternative sources for electric generation.
The initial members are funds Petros (which belongs to Brazilian oil giant Petrobras), Funcef (under federal bank Caixa Econômica Federal), Banesprev (belonging to the Banespa/Santander bank), Fapes (owned by the Brazilian Development Bank – BNDES), Real Grandeza (run by electric energy generator Furnas) and Infraprev (a fund by the Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Company – Infraero), as are the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), the Bank of Brazil Investment Bank and Pactual bank.
However, according to information supplied by a spokesperson for Petros, participation by other investors, even foreign, will be possible after the shareholders hold an assembly to decide on new participation, which should take place in the near future.
The capital in the fund will be invested in the Alternative Energy Source Incentive Program (Proinfa) under the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The Proinfa has already accepted 154 projects in 20 states, and they will together have 3,300 megawatts of installed capacity, divided equally between three energy sources: wind, biomass (combustion of organic material) and small hydroelectric centres.
According to information supplied by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the total investment in the program will be around US$ 3.5 billion, and all the projects will be ready during the year of 2006. Nowadays, according to the MME, these three sources correspond to 3.1% of the total energy produced in the country, but in 2006 the percentage may rise to 5.9%.
The 154 projects, according to the ministry, should generate around 12,312 gigawatts/hour per year, the equivalent to twice the electric energy consumption of the southeastern Brazilian state of Espírito Santo.
With regard to biomass, the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo presented the largest volume of enterprises, followed by Paraná (S), Goiás (Midwest), Pernambuco (NE) e Espírito Santo. In the case of small hydroelectric centres, the Midwest has the largest number of projects, led by the state of Mato Grosso. With regard to wind energy, the Northeast has the largest number of enterprises, with the state of Ceará leading.
In all, according to the MME, a total of 48 projects for the use of biomass have been presented and accepted, 59 for small hydroelectric centres and 47 for wind sources.
