On October 27, the IBAMA, the Brazilian Environmental Agency, signed the Operation License (OL) that enabled the commencement of operations, that very same day, by the Power Transmission Joint Venture, Abengoa’s transmission concessionaire for the 370 kilometer, 525 kV line between the municipal districts of Londrina / Assis / Araraquara, from the state of Parana to Sao Paolo.

The concession contract was signed on February 18, 2004 for a 24-month commissioning period (to February 2006), which means it has been brought into operation 4 months ahead of the contracted date. Very few companies in Brazil are capable of completing a project of this magnitude in such a short execution period.

The 370 kilometer project has required an investment of 432 million reales, while generating almost 1,300 jobs in the region. It is one of the country’s main connections between the 525 kV and 400 kV systems in Sao Paolo.

This is the fifth Abengoa line to come into operation in Brazil and the first that is one hundred percent controlled by the Group. A total of 1,932 km of lines has now been constructed.

Some 4 million inhabitants are benefiting from this project that improves the reliability of the direct electricity supply to the population of the states of Sao Paolo and Parana, and to the Brazilian electricity network itself.