Brazil CPFL Renovaveis to invest US$400 million in clean energy

Bloomberg

CPFL Energias Renovaveis SA, Brazil’s biggest renewable-energy generator, will invest 1.5 billion reais ($400 million) in renewable energy this year even as the country is hit by the worst economic crisis in decades.
The Sao Paulo-based company will keep growing, organically and through acquisitions, Andre Dorf, CPFL Renovaveis’ president, said by phone from Sao Paulo.
“We will invest in finishing projects that won contracts,” Dorf said. “And we are looking proactively to acquisitions in Brazil.”
CPFL Renovaveis has 1.8 gigawatts of wind, hydroelectric, biomass and solar installed capacity in Brazil. The company invested 482 million reais last year, mainly to build three wind and two small hydroelectric projects, some of which won long-term power supply contracts in auctions. The company’s revenue increased 20 percent last year, to 1.5 billion reais, while its loss declined 70 percent to 48.7 million reais.
Brazil’s slumping economy and plunging currency have some clean-energy companies seeking to sell renewable-energy plants to boost liquidity. Odebrecht SA, Renova Energia SA, Tractebel Energia SA and RDS Energias Renovaveis Ltda have announced they’re looking for buyers or partners.
“There are many energy projects waiting to be acquired,” Dorf said. “The renewable sector in Brazil is still fragmented.”
Brazil is the world’s 10th-biggest wind market. The government set a goal last year of getting 23 percent of Brazil’s energy from renewable sources by 2030. Power from solar, wind and biomass accounted for 9 percent of Brazil’s total generation in 2014.