In April this year, State Grid Corporation of China’s subsidiary in Brazil signed a concession agreement with Brazil’s Electricity Regulatory Agency on a project to export ±800-kilovolts of ultra-high-voltage (UHV) direct current (DC) new energy power from Northeast Brazil to other regions.
It is the third time State Grid has shouldered a UHV power transmission project in Brazil.
“The project will consolidate and transmit wind, solar, and hydro energy from Northeast and Northern Brazil to meet the electricity needs of approximately 12 million people in key areas like the capital Brasília,” said Zhang Zhe, deputy director of market development at State Grid International Development Co., Ltd.
In recent years, Chinese UHV transmission technology has helped Brazil build an “electric highway”, becoming a brilliant example of promoting green development under the Belt and Road Initiative. The Belo Monte project transmits abundant clean hydropower from the Amazon region in Northern Brazil to the centers in the Southeast, meeting the electricity needs of over 22 million people in core areas like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
By the end of last year, it had transmitted over 180 billion kWh of clean energy, equivalent to saving 64 million tons of standard coal and avoiding 170 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Recalling the construction of the Phase II of the Belo Monte UHV DC transmission project, Leonardo, a Brazilian employee of State Grid’s subsidiary in Brazil, said that in order to obtain environmental permits, he has spent a month in the rainforest conducting flora and fauna research.
“The project was commissioned 100 days ahead of schedule and became Brazil’s first large-scale power project in the past decade with zero environmental penalties,” Leonardo said.
In Brazil, State Grid has actively fulfilled its corporate social responsibility, benefiting local communities and fostering closer ties between the two nations. It has funded hospitals, renovated community school facilities, sponsored the Maré community symphony orchestra, purchased machinery to help residents build a juice processing plant, and participated in local historical and cultural heritage preservation. These public welfare activities reflect the responsibility of Chinese enterprises and showcase the deep friendship between the people of China and Brazil.
“We will continue to operate our existing power assets, enhance our power supply service capabilities, invest in and construct the UHV project with high quality, and support Brazil’s transition to clean and low-carbon energy,” said Zhang Zhigang, executive chairman of State Grid.
“We will deepen technical exchanges and cooperation to elevate China-Brazil energy and power cooperation to a new level,” Zhang added.
