Brazil will likely approve plans to build four new nuclear plants this year as well as defining rules for the renewal of operating licenses for hydroelectric plants that start expiring in 2015, the country's Mines and Energy Minister said Friday.
Brazil
will
likely approve plans to build four new nuclear plants this year as well as
defining rules for the renewal of operating licenses for hydroelectric plants
that start expiring in 2015, the country's Mines and Energy Minister said
Friday.
Brazil
plans
to define locations for the four new nuclear plants this year, Minister Edson
Lobao said in
Brasilia
, according
to the ministry's press office. Two of the plants will be located in
northeastern
Brazil
and
the other two in the southeast region.
Brazil
currently operates two nuclear plants in the southeastern state of
Rio
de Janeiro
state, and is already building a third in the same
state.
The ministry hasn't defined yet the capacity of the new plants and the
investment needed to complete them, the press office said.
The country's energy plan determined the need to build at least four nuclear
plants by 2030, at an estimated cost of $10.3 billion. Nuclear power is the
second-largest source of power in
Brazil
after
hydroelectric power.
The minister also said that a decision on hydroelectric license renewals needs
to be defined this year to free up financing for the plants. Uncertainty about
the new rules has driven away investors, discouraging companies from making
needed investments in maintenance of the plants, he said.
Current laws say that the licenses that begin expiring in 2015 will revert to
the government, necessitating a new auction. The ministry, however, will most
likely favor an automatic renewal of those concessions, but hasn't determined
what it will demand in return from those companies--such as lower rates for
customers.
Nonetheless, the decision to change the law isn't up to the ministry alone, and
proposals will be handed over to President Dilma Rousseff to make a final
decision, the press office said.
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