Conciliation hearing on thermal power plant in Rio Grande still has no confirmed date

Despite the order signed by the substitute Federal Judge Gessiel Pinheiro de Paiva at the end of last year, the conciliation hearing regarding the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project in Rio Grande continues without a set day to happen. The thermal plant was one of the winners of the energy commercialization auction promoted by the federal government in 2014, but today the implementation of this undertaking is the subject of administrative and judicial debate.

The lawyer for Thermoelectric Rio Grande and partner of the STP LAW office, Celso Silva, recalls that Thermoelectric Rio Grande was in favor of holding the hearing, the same occurring with the city hall and the state government. In the case of the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), he says that the regulatory body for the electricity sector has informed that they are not opposed to the event. “But at the same time it (Aneel) manifested a procedure that is somewhat contradictory”, points out Silva. The lawyer reports that the agency wants to be informed of the Rio Grande Thermoelectric proposal, to be forwarded to the technical area of ​​the regulatory body and then reach the board and subsequent manifestation. “In other words, it takes the conduct of the hearing away from the judge”, argues Silva.

Due to delays in the original deadline for the works (the expectation was that the thermal operation would take place by January 2019), which experienced difficulties regarding the release of the environmental licensing at the time, the granting of the plant project was revoked by Aneel in 2017 The complex, in addition to the thermoelectric plant, includes an LNG regasification unit and the implementation of a pier in the port of Rio Grande to receive the vessels that will handle the fuel. All these initiatives would imply an investment of more than R$ 6 billion.

The thermoelectric plant is designed for an installed capacity of 1,238,000 MW (approximately one third of the average demand for electricity in Rio Grande do Sul). The Bolognesi group, which won the auction with the plant, has an agreement to transfer the rights to the undertaking to the Spanish company Cobra, however, for this action to be confirmed, Aneel’s consent is required.