© Reuters
By Leticia Fucuchima
SÃO PAULO (Reuters) – The CEO of Eletrobras (BVMF:), Wilson Ferreira Júnior, said this Tuesday that the company maintains its intention to migrate to the Novo Mercado of B3 (BVMF:), and will follow through with the plan when conditions market are more appropriate.
In a webinar to launch the Brazilian Energy Leaders Forum, the executive also indicated that the electricity company sees important business opportunities with the energy transition processes, which will demand a greater supply of renewable energies, and the opening of the free energy market to all country’s consumers.
Regarding the Novo Mercado, Ferreira Júnior recalled that the company even announced a schedule for migration, but ended up canceling it at the end of last year due to market conditions at the time.
“There is convergence on the Board of Directors so that we are going to do this at an appropriate time, with less volatility”, he said, considering that the company already has controls and practices compatible with those required at the highest level of governance at B3.
The CEO of the largest electricity company in Latin America also assessed that the energy transition represents an important path of growth for Eletrobras, which has a generating complex that is practically entirely renewable, but very concentrated in the water source.
As an example of potential new businesses, he cited the installation of floating solar plants in hydroelectric reservoirs and new wind complexes.
“If we (Eletrobras) continue to grow the way we want, we will be the largest renewable energy company in the world, with the lowest level of emissions in the world, this is something that only Brazil can do”, said Ferreira Júnior.
Despite the focus of attention at the moment being solar and wind sources, he highlighted the importance of the role of hydroelectric plants, arguing that hydroelectric generators need to be adequately remunerated for the service of balancing the electrical system when other renewable sources are not generating.
Also participating in the webinar, the president of the Electricity Sector Associations Forum (Fase), Mario Menel, argued that the country should review the policy of not building new hydroelectric plants. According to him, these undertakings are important to counterbalance the variability of generation from wind and solar plants, and there are now new technologies that make it possible to circumvent environmental issues that could cause problems.
OPENING OF THE LIVING MARKET (NASDAQ:)
The executives also assessed that Brazil needs to move forward with the processing of the bill that deals with the opening of the free electricity market, which represents a kick for the modernization of the Brazilian energy sector.
According to Ferreira Júnior, the total opening of the market, as provided for in PL 414 pending in Congress, will bring important improvements, such as better allocation of electricity system costs between consumers in the free and regulated markets.
The CEO of Eletrobras also stated that the liberalization of the market for consumers connected to high voltage, already scheduled to start in 2024, is a “much desired” moment for electricity. The company will have expressive volumes of energy to trade to consumers in the free energy market from the privatization of its hydroelectric plants after privatization.
(By Leticia Fucuchima)