Ceará had no wind power projects contracted, and expectations for a thermoelectric plant were dashed. Now, wind turbines sales to neighboring states are in the sights. In solar energy, Ceará had four winning projects.
Ceará had no wind energy projects contracted at the A-6 energy auction, held yesterday (18) in São Paulo. However, the state may benefit from the situation by providing wind turbines for wind farm projects contracted in other states in the Northeast. In the event, Ceará had four winning projects, all of photovoltaic solar energy, totaling investments of over R $ 566 million and 120 Megawatts (MW) of power.
“From the point of view of participation, it was not so good for Ceará, but if you look from the point of view of who will supply the wind farm equipment, they will probably be supplied by the industries of Ceará. So it is still a positive fact to provide In a way, the business chain always brings investors, even though there is no park hired here at this auction, “says Adão Linhares, Executive Secretary for Energy and Telecommunications of the Secretariat of Infrastructure (Seinfra).
For the holder of the Secretary of Economic Development and Labor of the State (Sedet), Maia Junior, the outcome of the event was frustrating. “The result was received with a lot of sadness and frustration. First, because 10 days before the auction we learned that the purchase would be a frustration due to the low growth rates in the country. The offer was very large, but there was also a big appetite from investors to offer energy, whose price dropped a lot and that’s positive, “he details.
The state had licensed 156 projects, 85 solar photovoltaic, 69 wind energy and 2 gas thermal. In all, the projects authorized for Ceará had a power of 7,467 gigawatts (GW), being 3,196 GW of solar energy (42,8%), 2,180 GW of thermal (29,1%) and 2,091 GW of wind energy (28 ,1%).
“The problem was competitiveness. What we offer here is the same thing that was offered in Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia. They had a larger number of structured projects than ours. For Ceará, it was reasonable because of the photovoltaic solar energy. The great frustration was with the main project we had in the thermoelectric area in Porto do Pecém. I received with great sadness this result “, says Maia Júnior.
One of Ceará’s major projects was a gas-fired thermoelectric plant that would be installed at the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex (Cipp). However, due to competitive market issues, the state of Pará ended up taking advantage anchored in the tax incentives presented to investors. “In Pará, the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) is zero for this project. And in Ceará it was not like that. The ICMS here is in the range of 4%,” adds Maia Júnior.
For Linhares, the size of the Ceará thermoelectric project was one of the decisive factors for the result. According to plant data, the project would have a capacity of over 2,000 MW.
“It was actually a big project that could have two bidding possibilities: one full and one half. And depending on the level of demand, it would come in. But I realized the Pará competitor, due to some competitive advantage, with the situations of tax incentives, enabling better competitiveness. Here, the size that it (thermoelectric) was, was not competitive. There is another auction that is scheduled and we enter with this participation, “he considers.
Linhares also reiterates that the political and economic scenarios of the country did not favor the result for Ceará. “This is a difficult time for the Brazilian economy, politics. And that was adamant. We have a good prospect of reaction, and it is no wonder that the Government has already announced an auction for March. These auctions are based on the demands of the concessionaires. “The government does this based on what the utilities are asking for power.”
For Maia Júnior, expectations for future events are good. “Now we have to wait for next year’s auctions, because these companies that developed these projects in the area of ??thermoelectric, solar photovoltaic and wind, remain. They are already licensed, so we expect the investor to participate in the next auctions. Our expectation is that next year we can reverse the results we had in 2019, which were not what we wish it had been. “
According to him, the state is well positioned in terms of electricity generation and new investments are being planned. “We are well positioned. There are large investments underway in Ceará. We are taking steps exactly to take back the role in this matter. It is to have patience. The investor was present. It has to be emphasized that the investor worked, developed projects, licensed the projects.
