Trench Rossi Watanabe counsels China’s SPIC on Brazil power plant acquisition
Trench Rossi Watanabe has acted as local counsel to China’s State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) on its acquisition of energy generation plants in Brazil
The projects are the GNA I and GNA II thermoelectric plants located in Porto do Açu, in Rio de Janeiro, and in which the Chinese company has acquired a 33-per cent stake together with BP, Prumo and Siemens.
The plants, which will generate 3GW of electricity, form the largest gas-fired power generation complex in Latin America, with sufficient installed capacity to supply energy to up to 14 million households.
“This was an extremely complex operation, which involved a detailed regulatory assessment of the energy, natural gas and ports sectors, including the analysis of energy purchase and sale contracts in the regulated market, gas supply contracts and aspects related to the LNG terminal and the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), in addition to the involvement in negotiations with major players throughout the COVID-19 pandemic period,” according to Trench Rossi Watanabe partner José Roberto Martins (pictured), who was in charge of the operation with partner Mauricio Pacheco.
The operation also includes the participation by SPIC Brasil, a subsidiary of SPIC, in future GNA III and GNA IV expansion projects, as part of the overall strategy for the energy and gas hub.
The GNA complex will have a total installed capacity of 6.4GW and require an investment of approximately $5 billion.
