Brazil's Vale to Invest More Than $1.3 Billion in Power Generation

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Brazilian mining firm Vale (NYSE:RIO) (Rio de Janeiro) is investing more than $1.3 billion in power generation. The company currently has three ongoing power projects: the 600-megawatt (MW) Barcarena power plant, the 1,087-MW Estreito hydropower plant and the 90-MW Karebbe hydropower plant.

The Barcarena thermal power plant will be the first plant that Vale fully owns. The coal-fired power plant will be located in Barcarena state of Para and will be equipped with two 300-MW steam turbines. The station has a total investment cost of $400 million and is due to start operation in March 2012.

Vale has a 30% share in the Estreito Energia (Maranhao, Brazil) consortium, which is building the Estreito plant. The station will have eight Kaplan turbines with a total investment of $850 million. The project, which began construction in June 2007, is part of the Brazilian government's Growth Acceleration Program and is expected to start operation in September 2010.

The Karebbe plant, which will add 90 MW to the company's current 275 MW of capacity, will be located on the Larona River in Indonesia. The project has a total investment cost of $119 million and will supply electricity to the mining company PT International Nickel Indonesia Tbk (Jakarta, Indonesia), in which Vale owns a 60% stake. The plant's turbine generators will be supplied and installed by VA Tech Hydro (Vienna, Austria).

Vale is one of the world's largest iron ore producers and is developing several projects in Brazil, Peru, Chile, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, Mozambique and Oman.

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