Madrid, 27 November 2008. The National Electricity Agency of Brazil (ANEEL) today awarded an important contract to Consorcio Integración Norte Brasil, which is 25.5% owned by Abengoa, 25.5% by the Brazilian construction firm Andrade Gutiérrez and the remaining 49% is owned in equal shares by the state companies Electronorte and Electrosul. The project includes the construction, maintenance and operation of the Colectora Porto Velho electrical substation and two current converter stations (Rectifier N°1 and Inverter N°1), as well as the construction of the direct current transmission line that will carry the electricity produced by the Río Madeira hydroelectric complex to the country’s principal centre of consumption in San Pablo.

The concession includes the construction of the facilities and their subsequent operation and maintenance for a 30 year period. The estimated investment for the project exceeds 4.0 billion Brazilian Real (1.3 billion Euros).

The project will be carried out using direct current transmission technology and will have a transport capacity of 3,150 megawatts, a voltage of 600 kilovolts and a length of 2,375 kilometres, equivalent to the distance between Madrid and Oslo.

According to Alfonso González, chairman of Abeinsa, “this new concession once again demonstrates the mutual trust in the company and its activities in Brazil, where we already have 11 transmission line concessions in operation with a combined length of more than 6,000 kilometres”.

"Furthermore, this contract is especially important due to its direct current transmission characteristics and for being the second time that Abengoa has entered a tender alongside highly qualified local partners, making it one of the leading local players in Brazil”, added Alfonso González."

Abengoa is a technology company that applies innovative solutions to sustainable development in the infrastructures, environment and energy sectors. It is a public listed company with a market capitalisation of €1.005 billion (27/11/2008) and its five business groups are active in more than seventy countries: Solar Power, Bioenergy, Environmental Services, Information Technology, and Industrial Engineering and Construction. (www.abengoa.com).