State Grid Brazil Holding won the contract to build the transmission line for the Belo Monde Dam in Brazil's Amazon. (Photo : www.commondreams.org)
State Grid Brazil Holding, a subsidiary of China’s State Grid Corp., is set to build a transmission line for the Belo Monde hydroelectric dam, located deep in the Amazon rainforest, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday, July 18.
The report said that State Grid Brazil Holding won the contract making the lowest bid on Thursday, July 16, offering to operate the dam's second power line in exchange for 988 million reais ($309 million) a year.
According to the report, the company's winning offer was 19 percent lower than the maximum amount permitted in the auction.
Spanish firm Abengoa, which came in second place, placed a bid for 1.049 billion reais per year, a 14 -percent discount.
The Chinese company, which has a 20-year concession, is expected to complete building the line by 2019 and begin operating it in 2020.
The 2,250-kilometer second transmission line will connect the Belo Monte dam to the town of Nova Iguacu near Brazil's capital, Rio de Janeiro.
The report said that the project is expected to provide 16,800 direct jobs to people from the states of Para, Goias, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.
An estimated investment of 7 billion reais will be used to finance the construction, which will be spread across five Brazilian states.
Ramon Haddad, vice president for operations at State Grid Brazil Holding, said that the Chinese company would require the help of a Brazilian partner due to the massive scale of the project.
Indigenous communities, farmers, fishermen and ecologists have opposed the construction on the Belo Monte dam since it began in March 2011. Protesters have decried the devastating environmental impact of the project on the Amazon ecosystem.
