Brazil to buy power from 80-90 power barges

Brazil's government will hold an auction in August to buy power produced by some 80-90 power barges with 4,000 MW generation capacity that are expected in the country from 2002. The government will form a special association (SPE) responsible for contracting and trading the electricity generated by the barges. Development bank BNDES and state holding company Eletrobras could be part of this special government association.
Although 90 barges sounds like a high figure, government technicians estimate there are seven thousand barges in Asian countries. With the additional 4,000 MW it would be possible to hold 5 % of the electricity in reserve for the interconnected system and discard the possibilities of power cuts in 2002, BNDES infrastructure director Octavio Castello Branco said.
The government expects the barges to remain operating in the country for three years, when supply is expected to catch up with demand.