São Paulo – The president of the Brazilian Energy Research Company (EPE), Maurício Tolmasquim, said this Friday (17th) that the government intends to hold another auction this year for construction and operation of ten hydroelectric plants.
"We are working for it, but of course the time is short, and it all depends on whether the [environmental] license will be issued on time," said Tolmasquim shortly after presenting the EPE’s planning for 2010 to 2019 to the Board of Infrastructure of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp).
Out of the ten new plants, five will be built on the Parnaíba River, at the border between the states of Piauí and Maranhão; four on the Teles Pires River Basin, in Mato Grosso; and one – the Riacho Seco Hydroelectric Plant – on the São Francisco River Basin, at the border of Bahia and Pernambuco.
"We want to hold the auction by mid-December, in the worst-case scenario. For such, we must issue the edict by mid-November. Therefore, it would be best if the licenses were issued before the edict is published, but we are going to check whether it is feasible to obtain the license near the auction’s date," said Tolmasquim.
The president of the EPE also claimed that he is speaking to representatives of the Brazilian Environment and Renewable Natural Resource Institute (Ibama), of the state secretariats for environment, and of the National Indian Foundation (Funai) to try and speed up the licensing processes. "We are taking action quickly to see if they will act fast too, so that we can make it on time," said Tolmasquim.
He informed that on the 10th this month, the government submitted to the Federal Court of Audits the impact studies for the plants of Teles Pires, Sinop and São Manuel, in the Teles Pires River Basin, and for Riacho Seco, in the São Francisco River. The studies for the other ventures should be submitted by October 10th.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
