Baguari Hydro Power Plant, Brazil

Baguari hydro power plant, located on the Doce River in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, was inaugurated in October 2009. It is expected to begin power supply in January 2010.

The project will supply power to the Brazilian grid through four bulb-type generators. The plant will have an installed capacity of 140MW and its net capacity will be 80.2MW/h, sufficient to supply power to 450,000 people. The power will be distributed through the National Interconnected System.

The plant is being developed by UHE Baguari Consortium, which is composed of Neoenergia (51%), Cemig Generation and Transmission (34%) and Furnas (15%). The project requires a $300m investment, about 70% of which will be financed by Brazil's National Bank of Economic and Social Development. It is expected to be completed by April 2010.

The reservoir of the project covers an area of 16km² and includes the regions of Sobrália, Fernandes Tourinho and Alpercata on the right shore and Governador Valadares and Periquito on the left shore. It spreads 22km into Rio Doce.

Development

The plant is being developed by the Consorcio Construtor Baguari consortium, which is led by construction company Odebrecht and includes Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation and Engevix. Civil construction work is being handled by Odebrecht, while Voith Siemens Hydro has supplied turbines and will deal with the plant's EPC.

Technology

The plant will operate four power generating turbines, each of which will have a capacity of 35MW. The first turbine was commissioned in September 2009, three months ahead of schedule. The fourth machine is expected to become operational in March 2010. The bulb turbines have runner diameters of 5.1m and include generators, control valves, SCADA automation and excitation systems.

The turbines cost $23m and will help reduce the area of the plant's reservoir.

Transmission and distribution

Generated electricity will be transmitted by a 230kV substation and related network of 17 towers along 2.9km.

The plant's transmission system will include the Baguari-Governador Valadares line and the Baguari Mesquita line. The company must invest $13.5m for installing transmission infrastructure.

The consortium has already pre-sold 77MW/h per annum to about 30 distributors. Transmission is scheduled to begin in 2010.

Plant history

Baguari is the first hydro project under the national Program for the Acceleration of Growth (PAC). PAC was unveiled in 2007 and is intended to achieve a sustainable GDP of 5%. It involves the country investing BRL$500bn in infrastructure development, including roads, airports, ports, power projects, houses, water and sewage systems.

The Baguari project was approved by ANEEL, the Brazilian electricity regulatory agency, in 2002. The previous environmental licence (LP) was received in 2004 and power bidding began at the end of 2005. The installation licence for the project was granted in 2006 and construction began in May 2007.

Environmental impact

The environmental licence was awarded by the State Environmental Policy after the implementation of the Environmental Control Plan. The plan includes 38 programmes. The consortium is also building a fish ladder to facilitate transposition of the barrage.

The consortium is committed to developing a 34-acre reserve and 170ha of ecological corridors at the site.

The project will create 3,400 direct and indirect jobs in the region. Residents of low-lying areas that will be flooded because of the project have been relocated to 70 new homes, which were built by the company in Periquito.

Under the social and economic compensation programme, the company has started several infrastructure projects such as the construction of bridges, culverts, wells and a power distribution network.