Baguari Hydropower Plant, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The Baguari hydropower plant, which is located on the Doce River in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, was inaugurated in October 2009.

The plant has four turbine units. The first unit began operations in September 2009, 80 days ahead of schedule. The second and third unit began operations in November 2009 and March 2010, respectively, while the last unit became operational in April 2010.

The project supplies power to the Brazilian grid through four bulb-type generators.

The plant has an installed capacity of 140MW and a net capacity of 80.2MW / hr, sufficient to supply power to 450,000 people. Power is being distributed through the National Interconnected System.

The plant was developed by the UHE Baguari Consortium, which is composed of Neoenergia (51%), Cemig Generation and Transmission (34%) and Furnas (15%). The project required a $300m investment, of which 70% was financed by Brazil's National Bank of Economic and Social Development.

The project's reservoir covers an area of 16km² and includes the regions of Sobrália, Fernandes Tourinho and Alpercata on the right shore and Governador Valadares and Periquito on the left shore. It spreads 22km into Rio Doce.

Development of the Baguari plant

TechnologyThe Baguari plant is being developed by the Consorcio Construtor Baguari consortium, which is led by construction company Odebrecht and includes Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation and Engevix. Civil construction work is being handled by Odebrecht, while Voith Siemens Hydro has supplied turbines and will deal with the plant's EPC.

The plant's four power generating turbines, which cost $23m, operate at an individual capacity of 35MW. The turbines were designed to reduce the area of the plant's reservoir.

The bulb turbines have runner diameters of 5.1m and include generators, control valves, SCADA automation and excitation systems.

Transmission and distribution

The Baguari plant's transmission system includes the Baguari-Governador Valadares line and the Baguari Mesquita line. The company invested $13.5m for installing transmission infrastructure.

The consortium pre-sold 77MW / hr per year to 30 distributors before the official launch.The plant's transmission system includes the Baguari-Governador Valadares line and the Baguari Mesquita line. The company invested $13.5m for installing transmission infrastructure.

Baguari plant history

Baguari is the first hydro project under the national Program for the Acceleration of Growth (PAC). PAC was unveiled in 2007 and is intended to achieve a sustainable GDP of 5%. It involves the country investing R$500bn in infrastructure development, including roads, airports, ports, power projects, houses, water and sewage systems.

The Baguari project was approved by ANEEL, the Brazilian electricity regulatory agency, in 2002. The previous environmental licence (LP) was received in 2004 and power bidding began at the end of 2005. The installation licence for the project was granted in 2006 and construction began in May 2007.

Environmental impact

The environmental licence was awarded by the State Environmental Policy after the implementation of the Environmental Control Plan. The plan includes 38 programmes. The consortium is also building a fish ladder to facilitate transposition of the barrage.

During the construction period, the project created 3,400 jobs in the region. Residents of low-lying areas that were flooded because of the project were relocated to 70 new homes in Periquito, which were built by the company.The consortium developed a 34-acre reserve and 170ha of ecological corridors at the site.

Under the social and economic compensation programme, the company has started several infrastructure projects such as the construction of bridges, culverts, wells and a power distribution network.