BNDES approves $47m loan for hydro plant

The loan represents 75 percent of the total cost of the Neoenergia-backed hydroelectric dam. It is the third loan for a hydroelectric project approved this year by the Brazilian development bank.

Brazil’s development bank BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Social) has approved an R$101 million (€35 million; $47 million) loan for a hydroelectric plant in the state of Bahia.

Privately-held Neoenergia will use the money to deliver the Bahia PCH I hydroelectric plant in the city of Sao Dediderio. The plant will have installed capacity of 25 megawatts.

BNDES’ backing amounts to about 75 percent of the project’s total cost of R$135 million.

The Bahia PCH I financing is the third loan for a hydroelectric project approved by BNDES this year. The aggregate value of all loans tops R$282 million and 73 megawatts of generation capacity.