Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) — Bioenergy Geradora de Energia Ltda.,
the Brazilian renewable-energy developer that’s going to sell
the world’s cheapest wind energy, plans to issue as much as 250
million reais ($125.7 million) of inflation-linked bonds to
finance power projects.
The company expects to find a new investor in the first
half of the year to help build wind farms worth 1.2 billion
reais and plans to sell debt soon after, according to Chief
Executive Officer Sergio Marques.
Bioenergy is seeking to raise funds to develop 380
megawatts of wind farms. Most of the projects were awarded
contracts to sell power at 87.77 reais a megawatt-hour in a
government-organized auction in December, less than half what
Germany offers wind developers, Eduardo Tabbush, an analyst at
Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said today in a telephone
interview.
“It’s going to be very challenging raising equity and debt
for these projects,” Tabbush said. “These rates are the lowest
we’ve seen in the world so far. Returns will be extremely
tight.”
The bonds may be paid back over as many as 10 years and may
carry interest rates two percentage points above IPCA, a
Brazilian consumer-price index that’s now 5.84 percent, Marques
said.
Bioenergy, the nation’s third-biggest seller of wind energy
in auctions, hasn’t decided on a turbine supplier and is
considering U.S., European and Chinese providers.
The company may seek to reduce construction costs by using
Chinese turbines with financing from China Development Bank
Corp., Tabbush said. The lender offers interest rates for
turbines that are as much as 50 percent cheaper than South
American banks.
Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social, the
Brazilian national development bank that offers loans for wind
farms built with local components, offers 16-year loans with
interest rates as low as 7.5 percent, Tabbush said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Stephan Nielsen in Sao Paulo at
snielsen8@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
