The Santo Antônio Hydropower:
13.5 million megawatt hours in three years in operation
Porto Velho, Brazil, March 30, 2015 - The Santo Antônio Hydropower, located on the
Madeira River in Porto Velho, in northwestern Brazil’s Rondônia State, today (March
30) celebrates its third year in operation, with an effective accumulated generation of
13.5 million megawatt hours (MWh).
This amount of energy is enough to power 14 million refrigerators, 8 million freezers, 52
million irons - considering two hours of daily use - or 26 million 32-inch LCD TV sets
(on for five hours a day) for 36 months.
The hidropower currently has a generating capacity of approximately 2.3 thousand
megawatts, with 32 of its turbines in operation. From November 2016, operating at full
load with 50 turbines, its capacity will reach 3.568 thousand megawatts - enough power
for meeting the consumption of a population of 45 million.
Increasing energetic security across the country
The energy produced by the Santo Antônio Hydropower has significantly increased the
country’s supply of energy, which is distributed across the National Interconnected
System - SIN.
With the expansion of the hydroelectric plant’s generation capacity already under way,
a portion of this energy is now exclusively directed to the Rondônia and Acre states
through a specific transmission line, increasing the company's participation in the
sustainable development of the region.
Contributions in these first three years in operation
The energy generated by the Santo Antônio Hydropower in these three years
represented a significant contribution to the country.
Contribution 1: It enabled a 300-megawatt decrease in thermal power generation energy from thermal power plants, which are more polluting for burning fossil fuel, and
more expensive compared to the energy produced by hydropower plants.
Contribution 2: It enabled saving 3.3% of the volume of the country's southeastern
region reservoirs, as the energy generated by the turbines of the Santo Antônio
Hydropower was directed to that region through the National Interconnected System SIN.
Contribution 3: The generation of royalties effectively paid by the Santo Antônio
Hydropower is growing as it increases the production of energy. The accumulated
amount paid over these three years of generation reached R$ 64 million, shared
among Porto Velho (45%), Rondônia (45%) and the Union (10%).
“The difficulties being faced are many, and are far from being solved in a short time.
Even so, these three years of generation of the Santo Antônio Hydropower represent
important contributions to the country and especially to Rondônia, increasing energy
security and contributing to the lowering of tariffs”, says Santo Antônio Energia
president Eduardo de Melo Pinto.
The Future
With the project completed in November 2016, the Santo Antônio Hydropower will have
50 turbines in operation with a total generating capacity of 3.568 thousand megawatts enough energy to meet the needs of a population of approximately 45 million. The total
investment in the project is approximately R$ 20 billion, R$ 2 billion of which are
directed to social and environmental programs.
Santo Antônio Energia
Santo Antônio Energia is the concessionaire responsible for the construction and
operation of the Santo Antônio Hydropower, located on the Madeira River in Porto
Velho (Rondônia State), and for marketing the generated energy. The Santo Antônio
Energia shareholders are Furnas (39%), Odebrecht Energia (18,6%), SAAG (12,4%),
Cemig (10%) e Caixa FIP Amazônia Energia (20%).
Press Contacts:
CDN – Comunicação Corporativa
Marisol Morão – +55 (11) 3643-2789 – [email protected]
Patricia Pesce – +55 (11) 3643-2773 – [email protected]
Dora Lopes – +55 (11) 3643-2793 - [email protected]
Banzeiros Comunicação
José Carlos Sá +55 (69)9908-1621 - [email protected]
Hidrelétrica Santo Antônio
Carla Nascentes +55 (69)9933-7781 - [email protected]