Brazil’s Cemig buys 431 MW of wind and solar in own auction

Brazil’s Minas Gerais-based power company, Compañía Energética de Minas Gerais S.A. (CEMIG) – the fourth largest energy company in the country – has announced the results of its auction for large-scale wind and solar power projects, launched in mid-May.

In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM), the company said its Cemig Geração e Transmissão S.A. unit has contracted 431.4 MW of wind and solar power. Cemig stressed the auction's winning wind and power plants have a combined capacity of around 1.2 GW, without providing more details.

The contracted power will be sold to Cemig under a 20-year PPA starting from January 2022.

CEMIG will in turn sell the power from the contracted wind and solar energy facilities to the Brazilian deregulated national electricity market – the mercado livre de eletricidade. In this market, the power providers negotiate conditions of electricity sale between themselves, or directly with big energy consumers.

Local media had previously reported the auction was aimed at providing the Brazilian company with the power generation capacity it recently lost, due to the concessions of four hydropower plants – in São Simão (1.7 GW), Miranda (404 MW), Jaguara (424 MW) and Volta Grande (380 MW) – previously run by CEMIG, to big players including Italy’s power utility, Enel; French energy company, Engie; and China’s State Power Investment Corporation.