Brazil's MPX to Upgrade 1.4-Gigawatt Porto do Acu Thermal Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Brazilian mining company Mineracao e Energia (MPX) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has submitted an environmental impact statement to environmental regulator Feema to expand its Porto do Acu thermoelectric project. Porto do Acu was planned to have 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity; however, MPX now plans to expand Porto do Acu's capacity to 2.1 GW. The thermoelectric plant will start operation in 2012 and an additional 4 GW between 2015 and 2018. The first phase will cost $4 billion, and the second will cost $8.2 billion.

The plant will be in the Porto do Acu Industrial Area in Sao Jao da Barra, Rio de Janeiro, and it will be equipped with three 700-megawatt (MW) coal-fired steam turbines.

Porto do Acu is the main project among eight other generating projects that MPX is expected to build before 2018. Six of them will be thermal, and two will be hydroelectric. The projects consist primarily of coal-fired thermoelectric plants. All of them will be situated in Brazil except for the 1.4 GW UTE Castilla thermal plant, which will be in Region III of Atacama in Chile. For related information, view February 6, 2008, article - Maire Engineering Awarded Contract to Build Two Coal-Fired Plants in Brazil.

According to MPX's investor relations officer, the nine plants are valued at more than $20 billion and will produce 9.6 GW. With these investments, MPX is projected to become the second-largest electricity generator in Brazil.

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