PROINFA
Incentive Program for Alternative Sources of Energy (Programa de Incentivo a Fontes Alternativas de Energia Elétrica) or PROINFA
In 2002, the government introduced PROINFA to create incentives for developing alternative energy sources such as wind energy projects, small hydroelectric plants and biomass projects. Under PROINFA, Eletrobras buys energy generated by these alternative sources for a period of 20 years and transfers it to free consumers and distributor companies, who are then responsible for including the costs of the program in their tariffs for all final consumers in the concession area except for of low-income consumers. Projects must be fully operational by December 30, 2008 in order to qualify for PROINFA. Brazil’s Economic and Social Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social), or BNDES, approved the opening of a line of credit for specific projects included in the PROINFA and may finance up to 80% of the construction costs of plants covered by the program.
- Eventual Seasonal Oscillations
The Company’s activities are not subject to seasonal variation.
- Principal inputs and raw materials:
- Description of relations with suppliers including (if subject to governmental control or regulation) an indication of the entities involved and the respective applicable legislation;
- eventual dependence on a few suppliers;
- eventual volatility in their prices.
The principal inputs used in our activities are civil construction materials, equipment for generation and transmission of energy, notably turbines for hydro or wind power generation, and high/medium tension substations as well as civil engineering services for the construction of generation plant infrastructure including foundations for the wind turbine towers at our wind farms and the dams at our SHPs.
Once our plants have been installed, our activities revolve around maintenance of our assets, principally the use of replacement and consumable parts.