After the revoking of a temporary injunction by the Higher Court of Justice (STJ) – partially halting work on the Gralha Azul Transmission System – ENGIE’s activities at the projects have resumed in full.

Over the past few months, the Gralha Azul Transmission System has demonstrated to the STJ and society as a whole that it is complying with all the applicable legal procedures for executing its work as well as its commitment and respect for the environment. “All the authorizations, licenses and agreements necessary for the implementation of the project have been obtained from the appropriate bodies, reaffirming at all levels of judicial instances, the regularity of the processes. Thanks to the decision approving the legality of the projects, we can now proceed with work which will bring more electric power to the state of Paraná, in turn, boosting the economy and creating employment and businesses for the state”, declares Marcio Daian Neves, project implementation director at ENGIE.

The Gralha Azul Transmission System is part of the strategic expansion plan for the Brazilian electric power sector and is designed to overcome problems of tension shortfall and restrictions of supply in the regions which have been a cause of significant losses to both industry and agribusiness. In addition, the new project endeavors to minimize the risk of outages due to increased consumption. Once the project is installed, energy from Itaipu, to date largely delivered to the state of São Paulo, can be used to supply more regions in the state of Paraná.

The project is made up of fifteen transmission lines which will interconnect ten substations– five new units and extensions to five existing ones – over a stretch of approximately a thousand kilometers. The projects comprise a thirty-year federal concession agreement, the result of a successful bid at the National Electric Energy Agency’s (ANEEL) 002/2017 Electric Energy Transmission Auction and are scheduled for completion by September 2021.

Investment of R$ 2 billion and generation of 15 thousand jobs

Additional to the reinforcement of power distribution, the Gralha Azul project has been fostering local economic development and providing a greater quality of life for the population. At an investment of R$ 2 billion and as one of the drivers of income generation in the region, the installation of the System is expected to create around 15 thousand jobs, both direct and indirect, up to the end of the work as well as being responsible for stimulating the economy with the acquisition of local inputs and services and the raising of the  corresponding tax take at the municipal level. “New hiring is already underway and is expected to peak at 5 thousand employees now in January with the arrival largely of new tower assembly teams and the lifting of cables into place. The civil work is progressing to a stage where there is greater focus on electromechanical  assembly”, explains Neves. In addition, with an improved supply of energy to the state, the municipalities will be able to meet the needs of industries and companies, attract new projects and as a consequence, create more employment and development.

In respect to work in progress, ENGIE’s project implementation director says that currently 67% of the system is concluded. Expectations are that the work schedule will be concluded on time. “At current rates work can be finalized by September of this year in accordance with the concession agreement”, Marcio Neves points out.