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Pampa Sul power station (Usina Termelétrica Pampa Sul) is an operating power station of at least 345-megawatts (MW) in Candiota, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as Miroel Wolowski power station.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Pampa Sul power station | Candiota, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | -31.4506, -53.77687 (exact)[1] |
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2: -31.4506, -53.77687
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Operating | coal: unknown | 345 | subcritical[2] | 2019 | 2044 (planned)[3] |
| Unit 2 | Shelved | coal: unknown | 340 | unknown | – | – |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Grafito [50%]; Perfin Space X [50%][4][4] | Perfin Space X [50.0%]; Starboard Asset Ltda |
| Unit 2 | Engie Brasil Energia SA [100%] | Engie Brasil Energia SA [100.0%] |
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): Seival mine
Ownership Tree
This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
Background
Originally a project of Tractebel Energia SA - renamed Engie Brasil Energia in 2016 - the Pampa plant languished for many years in the shadow of Tractebel's larger Seival power plant.[5] However, with the sale of Seival to MPX Energia in November 2010[6] and President Dilma Roussef's March 2013 decision to re-open Brazil's energy auctions to coal plants[7], Pampa got a new lease on life. As of August 2013 companies from China, Spain and Korea had expressed interest in placing construction bids.[8]
While the project met all the licensing requirements for inclusion in Brazil's August and December 2013 energy auctions, management ultimately declined to participate, citing both auctions' unviably low ceiling prices per KWh.[9][10] However, higher prices in the November 2014 auction encouraged Tractebel to participate, and the Pampa power station emerged as the lone successful bidder for a coal-fired project. Plans called for construction of the plant to begin in the first half of 2015, with a completion date no later than December 2018. Starting in 2019, the R$1.8 billion project was expected to generate 340 MW annually over a 25 year period.[11]
In June 2015, Tractebel announced that Brazil's national environment agency IBAMA had issued a permit allowing construction of Unit 1 to begin at the Pampa plant site. The plant was reported as 340 MW. Initial work was expected to begin during the first two weeks of July, with completion of the plant now projected for January 2019.[12][13]
In July 2016 plant owner Tractebel changed its name to Engie Brasil Energia.[14]
In August 2017, two years after construction began, Engie Brasil Energia representative Hugo Roger Stamm announced that 50% of Unit I’s structures were complete, including the transmission line and most of the conveyor belt system, and that the plant was on track to begin operational testing in the second half of 2018, with commercial electricity production to begin in January 2019.[15] In January 2018, Engie Brasil Energia announced that construction was 75% complete and that the total cost of the project was now R $2.5 billion.[16]
Unit 1 was commissioned in May 2019[17] and received authorization from ANEEL to begin commercial operations in June 2019.[18][19][18] The plant is fueled with coal from the nearby Seival mine[20][21][20] and has been contracted to supply electricity to Brazil's national grid through June 2044.[22] Following the plant's transfer of ownership to Starboard and Perfin in 2022, the new owners committed to decommissioning the coal plant before the end of the electricity supply contract in 2044.[23]
As of September 2022, the plant employed 113 workers directly and approximately 500 workers indirectly.[22] The plant uses circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology.[20]
In July 2024, the Arayara Institute (Instituto Arayara) filed a civil action against Rio Grande do Sul calling for the government to establish a decommissioning plan for the state's coal-fired power stations, including Pampa Sul power station.[24]
Proposed Unit 2
In April 2015, the Brazilian news site Valor Econômico cited statements from Tractebel's CFO Eduardo Sattamini indicating that Tractebel has plans for a second unit that would raise the Pampa plant's capacity to 640 MW.[25] The report speculated that Tractebel might bid for increased capacity at Brazil's April 30 national energy auction[26], but Tractebel did not appear on the official list of bidders published by ANEEL (Brazil's energy regulation authority) and no new coal projects were approved in the April 30 auction.[27]
In August 2017, press reports cited the 300MW Pampa Sul II project as one of four possible coal-fired contenders in Brazil’s upcoming A-6 energy auction.[28] However, there were ultimately no successful bids from coal projects in the December 2017 auction, with the Brazilian government granting virtually all new energy contracts to wind and natural gas-fueled projects instead.[29]
Unit 2 was again listed as a participant in Brazil's October 2019 A-6 energy auction but did not enter into any purchasing agreements.[30]
In February 2020, Brazil's national environment agency IBAMA issued a preliminary environmental permit for Unit 2, valid for 5 years.[25] Engie's stated goal for obtaining the permit was to allow the project to participate in future energy auctions, thus making it more attractive to a potential buyer; Engie itself has pledged to build no new coal plants in Brazil.[25]
Unit 2 of the Pampa Sul plant was not listed as a participant in Brazil's 2022 energy auctions[31], and the plant's chances of succeeding in future auctions appeared limited by diminished financing opportunities for coal projects[32] and increased competition from less expensive energy sources such as solar.[32][33]
Although the preliminary environmental license granted to the proposed expansion (Unit 2/Phase 2) in 2019 is valid until February 2025, there has been no apparent progress in developing the expansion since the 2019 licensing. With the most recent public mention of Unit 2 having been in a May 2021 Engie report, the expansion was presumed shelved.[34] As of June 2025, with no news on the proposal, the expansion was presumed cancelled.
Transfer of ownership
In April 2018, as part of its plan to decarbonise its portfolio, Engie attempted to sell the Pampa Sul project and its Jorge Lacerda power station to Contour Global but the sale fell through over a disagreement on the projects' valuation.[35] In September 2018 it was reported that China’s State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) was in talks with Engie SA to purchase Pampa Sul.[36] In January 2019 Engie gave a planned commissioning date of May 2019 or June 2019 for Unit 1, and announced that it would not try to sell the plant until it was commissioned.[37]
Engie announced in a July 2019 press release that the company had revived its efforts to sell the Pampa Sul power station,[18] and the following month an Engie executive confirmed to Reuters that Pampa Sul was up for sale.[38] By year's end, however, efforts to sell the plant had been put on hold due to problems with lower-than-expected operational capacity in the plant's first months of operation. In a February 2020 teleconference with investors, Engie executive Rafael Bósio reported that the plant would be put up for sale again later in 2020 once operational capacity targets had been achieved.[39]
In March 2021, Engie resumed efforts to sell the plant in accordance with its announced transition towards carbon neutrality.[40][41] As of January 2022, Engie reported that it was in negotiations with potential buyers and hoped to conclude a deal within the first half of the year; Engie planned to invest proceeds from the sale in renewable energy projects.[42][43]
In September 2022, Engie officially disposed of the plant. A 100% ownership sales agreement was made with Grafito and Perfin Space X investment funds.[44] The power station was the final coal-fired asset in Engie's Brazilian portfolio, although the company continued to operate 1065 MW of coal-fired capacity at its Mejillones and Andina-Hornitos power stations in Mejillones, Chile.[45] A representative from new ownership said that they planned to operate the plant "sustainably and responsibly," seeking a 5% reduction in CO2 emissions, allocating R&D funds to study carbon capture and storage opportunities, and considering an early decommissioning date prior to the end of the plant's current concession period.[44][46]
In May 2023, the sale of the plant was completed for R$450 million.[47]
Financing
Unit 1: In August 2020, Engie announced that it was "preparing to issue up to $142 million in debentures to finance its Pampa Sul coal-fired power plant."[48] In the same month, it was announced that BTG Pactual would be the bond arranger for that debt.[49] In September 2020, Engie announced that it had completed settlement of the initial debenture offering, raising a total of R$ 340 million (roughly US$ 61 million at prevailing exchange rates[50]) to offset expenses at the Pampa Sul plant over the next 24 months.[51]
In October 2020, Engie finalized the issuance of an additional R$ 582 million in debentures to finance the Pampa Sul plant[52][53], an offering that was originally announced in late September.[54][55]
Employment
In 2023, it was reported that the plant employed 113 workers directly and an additional 500 outsourced (contract) workers. [47]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210215190807/https://www.engie.com.br/complexo-gerador/usinas/usina-termeletrica-pampa-sul/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://jsm.gig.eu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1439&context=journal-of-sustainable-mining.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Engie vende última usina a carvão no Brasil". EPBR. 2022-09-22. Archived from the original on 2024-05-28.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "BTG investe em térmica a carvão Pampa Sul". 2023-11-28. Archived from the original on 2024-02-07. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
- ↑ "Tractebel exporta energia ao Uruguai". Ambiente Já!. March 4, 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "MPX Energia adquire projeto em Candiota por R$ 37 milhões". GZH. November 23, 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Dilma agora quer o carvão,", Jornal do Povo, March 2013.
- ↑ "Novos investidores chineses visitam Mina de Candiota". Farrapo/CRM (Companhia Riograndense de Mineração). August 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Consórcios e empresas rearticulam projetos de térmicas a carvão no Rio Grande do Sul,", Zero Hora, September 2013.
- ↑ "Preço no leilão marcado para dezembro joga água fria na exploração do pré-sal gaúcho,", Zero Hora, November 2013.
- ↑ "Confirmada nova usina em Candiota". Jornal Minuano. November 29, 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Licença de instalação da Tractebel é assinada". Jornal Minuano. June 20, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "IBAMA emite Licença de Instalação da UTE Pampa Sul em Candiota". Reporter Brasilia. June 29, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "IN BRIEF: Tractebel changes name to Engie Br..." BNamericas. July 14, 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Obra da UTE Pampa Sul completa dois anos com mais de 50% das estruturas concluídas,", Jornal Minuano, August 29, 2017.
- ↑ Usina Pampa Sul está com 75% das obras concluídas - Jornal do Comércio, Jornal do Comercio, Jan. 25, 2018
- ↑ "Bancada do carvão renasce no Congresso com apoio do governo Bolsonaro", Gazeta De Povo, Jun. 27, 2019
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "Pampa Sul Thermoelectric Power Plant begins commercial operations". ENGIE Brasil press release. July 9, 2019.
- ↑ "Engie: Aneel autoriza início de operação de termelétrica a carvão no RS". Isto é Dinheiro. June 28, 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "BRDE financia R$ 31,5 milhões para ampliar mineração de carvão em Candiota". Portal do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. April 12, 2017.
- ↑ "Seival Sul Mineradora começa operação em Candiota". Jornal Minuano. March 21, 2019.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Conheça os detalhes da venda da UTE Pampa Sul - Jornal Tribuna do Pampa". Jornal Tribuna do Pampa. September 20, 2022.
- ↑ Engie vende última usina a carvão no Brasil, EPBR, September 16, 2022
- ↑ Ação exige descomissionamento de térmicas a carvão na reconstrução do RS, MegaWhat, July 29, 2024
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 "Segunda fase da UTE Pampa Sul recebe LP válida por cinco anos". Jornal Tribuna do Pampa. February 26, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Tractebel considers selling extension of Pampa Sul Coal Plant,", Valor International, April 28, 2015.
- ↑ "Leilão A-5 contrata 14 usinas e garante investimentos de R$ 6 bi no país". GNPW Group. May 1, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Projetos a carvão são confirmados em leilão,", Jornal do Comércio, August 8, 2017.
- ↑ "Leilão A-6 viabiliza 3,8 GW e R$ 13,9 bilhões em novos investimentos," CanalEnergia, December 20, 2017
- ↑ Minas e Energia quer viabilizar financiamento do BNDES para usinas a carvão, epbr, Oct. 18, 2019
- ↑ "Portaria Nº 1.593/SPE/MME, de 29 de agosto de 2022". Diário Oficial da União. August 29, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Transição energética gera euforia em MG e apreensão no RS". Folha de S.Paulo. December 31, 2021.
- ↑ "Apesar de carvão poder participar de leilões de energia, chances de venda são remotas". Jornal Tribuna do Pampa. May 9, 2022.
- ↑ "Formulário de Referência - 2021" (PDF). Engie. May 2021.
- ↑ Negociação para venda da usina Pampa Sul nao avança, Jornal Minuano, Apr. 13, 2018
- ↑ Deals of the day-mergers and acquisitions, Reuters, Sep. 5, 2018
- ↑ Engie will only sell Pampa South upon completion, Jornal do Comércio, Jan. 15, 2019
- ↑ "Engie Brasil will restart sale process for Pampa Sul power plant - executive". Reuters. August 7, 2019.
- ↑ "Engie aponta contratempos em processo para vender termelétricas a carvão no Brasil". Negócios/Reuters. February 19, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "ENGIE retoma processo de venda de Pampa Sul". ENGIE Brasil. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
- ↑ "Engie resumes sale of 345-MW coal-fired plant in Brazil". Renewablesnow.com. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
- ↑ "Engie deve vender última termelétrica a carvão até junho". Valor Econômico. January 22, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Engie Brasil Energia espera vender Pampa Sul até junho". CanalEnergia. February 15, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 44.0 44.1 "ENGIE Brasil Energia signs a sales agreement for the disposal of the Pampa Sul Thermoelectric Plant to Starboard and Perfin", Engie, September 15, 2022
- ↑ "Memoria Integrada 2021 (p 14)" (PDF). Engie Energía Chile. 2022-01-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Conheça os detalhes da venda da UTE Pampa Sul". Jornal Tribuna do Pampa (in português). September 20, 2022.
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 "Engie conclui venda da UTE Pampa Sul para Starboard e Perfin", Tribuna do Pampa, June 1, 2023
- ↑ "Engie to issue debentures for Brazil coal-fired plant | Power Finance & Risk". www.powerfinancerisk.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
- ↑ "Preview of Pampa Sul Thermal Power Plant (340MW) Additional Facility | Transaction | IJGlobal". ijglobal.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
- ↑ "Brazilian Real to US Dollar Exchange Rate History For 23 September 2020 (23/09/20)". www.exchangerates.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
- ↑ "UTE Pampa Sul conclui captação de R$ 340 milhões". Canal Energia. September 23, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Engie (EGIE3): Pampa Sul faz emissão de R$ 582 mi em debêntures". Eu Quero Investir. 2020-10-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "'Debênture-carvão' da Engie sai com demanda de quatro vezes e redução de taxa". Capital Reset. October 27, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Engie Brasil Energia S A : Announcement to the Market - Debentures 400 Pampa Sul | MarketScreener". MarketScreener. September 27, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "AVISO AO MERCADO: OFERTA PÚBLICA DE DISTRIBUIÇÃO DE DEBÊNTURES SIMPLES" (PDF). Engie. September 28, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
