VZCZCXRO4985
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0392/01 2060932
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240932Z JUL 08
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8405
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 9536
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 4155
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8791
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 3204
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3451
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2742
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2451
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 3863
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 3133
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SAO PAULO 000392 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC, EEB/ESC/ENR, EEB/ESC/EPC 
STATE ALSO FOR E - GREG MANUEL 
 
STATE PASS USTR FOR KDUCKWORTH 
STATE PASS EXIMBANK 
STATE PASS OPIC FOR DMORONSE, NRIVERA, CMERVENNE 
DEPT OF TREASURY FOR JHOEK 
DEPT OF ENERGY FOR CGAY, AMIRANDA 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG ECON EAGR ENV BR
SUBJECT: BIOELECTRICITY THE NEXT BIOFUEL - ELECTRICITY SERIES #4 
 
REF: A) Sao Paulo 260; B) Brasilia 593; C) Brasilia 672 D) Sao Paulo 
314 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFED--PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  As the next big development in Brazilian 
biofuels, bioelectricity has been touted as the short-term solution 
to Brazil's potential electricity shortages.  It is a clean source 
of electricity that requires little start-up time and is 
complementary to Brazil's predominately hydroelectric generation. 
In fact, the GOB has scheduled its first bioelectricity auction for 
July 30.  Once used solely for plant generation, mills are now 
turning to bioelectricity because of its profitability as the price 
per megawatt of electricity in Brazil has steadily increased while 
sugar and ethanol prices have declined.  Mills must weigh the 
upfront investment costs, which vary widely depending on access to 
electricity transmission lines, with bioelectricity's nearly 
guaranteed revenue stream.  Bioelectricity production in Brazil is 
likely to increase as it provides another revenue stream for sugar 
and ethanol producers and ultimately, may be the decisive factor in 
determining which operators stay in business.  There are prime 
opportunities for U.S.-Brazil bilateral cooperation on technological 
development in gasification that would advance the market for both 
biomass products.  This is the fourth cable in a Mission-wide series 
on electricity in Brazil.  End Summary. 
 
What Is It? 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Bioelectricity is electricity derived from biomass, 
primarily from sugarcane in Brazil.  Brazilian sugar and ethanol 
mills have been burning bagasse, the organic material left over 
after milling sugarcane, in high pressure steam boilers to generate 
enough energy for self-sustainability.  However, sugar producers 
were indifferent about generation efficiency as long as they 
generated enough electricity to supply their production facilities. 
Investment incentives for upgrading to high pressure boilers in the 
late 1990s helped supply the first bioelectricity, and when Brazil 
experienced electricity black-outs in 2001, it became an invaluable 
source of electricity for many industries.  Last year, the GOB 
showed the first signs of seriously considering bioelectricity to 
supplement Brazil's electricity supply when it announced the first 
auction exclusively for bioelectricity, scheduled for July 30 of 
this year. 
 
Silver Bullet 
------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Bioelectricity is the near unanimous short-term solution 
to potential electricity shortages in Brazil.  As reported earlier, 
Brazil's electricity supply and demand picture is in precarious 
equilibrium (Ref A).  Jeff Safford, Vice President for Business 
Development for AES Brazil, told Econoff that biomass generation, 
especially bioelectricity, is the only way to create the sufficient 
additional installed electricity capacity to deal with demand from 
now until 2011.  Together 48 of the 405 Brazilian sugar mills 
generated approximately three percent of Brazil's electricity supply 
in 2007 (1,400 megawatts) and experts estimate that by 2011 
bioelectricity production will double to six percent.  Enormous 
potential efficiency gains by investing in high pressure boilers 
would triple electricity generation without increasing sugarcane 
production. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Bioelectricity projects are generally small (particularly 
due to investment incentives for less than 30 megawatt (MW) 
generators), can come online in as few as two years, and have a 
smaller environmental footprint and limited environmental licensing 
issues compared to other projects such as new hydroelectric dams. 
The sugarcane industry in Brazil has the added advantage of decades 
of research and development to improve productivity as well as crop 
forecasts that make it a predictable electricity source.  The 
sugarcane harvest likewise coincides with the dry season in southern 
 
SAO PAULO 00000392  002 OF 004 
 
 
Brazil, making bioelectricity a perfect complement to hydroelectric 
generation.  Disposing of accumulated bagasse used to be an 
environmental problem; however, larger mills such as Equipav, the 
largest bioelectricity generator in Brazil, now buy accumulated 
bagasse from other mills to produce electricity.  As a clean-burning 
source of power, electricity generated from bagasse reduces 
greenhouse gases creating Carbon Emissions Reduction credits (CERs) 
that can be traded or sold.  Indeed, Carlos Silvestrin, Vice 
President of the Sao Paulo Association of Cogeneration of Energy 
(COGEN-SP), told Econoff that COGEN-SP recently signed an MOU with 
the World Bank to develop an internet auction for carbon credits 
resulting from cogeneration. 
 
Free Revenue 
------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Bioelectricity is an extremely lucrative, low-cost, energy 
source, which together with various financing and discount 
incentives, is prompting traditional sugar mills to incorporate 
bioelectricity into their product mix.  Plinio Nastari, President of 
the sugar and ethanol industry consultancy Datagro, described 
bioelectricity as a valuable bi-product and equated bioelectricity 
for Brazilian sugar and ethanol producers to distiller's grain for 
U.S. ethanol producers.  According to Claren Power, a Virginia-based 
company that recently entered the Brazilian bioelectricity market, 
the domestic market would total USD 24 billion annually if Brazil 
exploited its full market potential.  Depending on which market 
mills opted to sell their excess capacity, estimates range from R$ 
100 to R$ 170 per MW/h (approximately USD 62 to 106).  As an 
example, Equipav just closed a USD 250 million deal with 
International Paper to supply electricity over the next 12 years. 
Brenco, an ethanol distillery based in Sao Paulo, plans to invest 
USD 1.5 billion in ten ethanol distilleries, which have a combined 
installed capacity of 600 MW, equivalent to 10 percent of the two 
Rio Madeira hydro projects.  (Note: According to Aneel, the two Rio 
Madeira projects, Santo Antonio and Jirau, total 6,450 MW with a 
total expected investment of R$ 54 billion (approximately USD 34 
billion).  See Ref A for more information.  End Note.)  Brenco 
expects that 20 percent of its revenue will come from 
bioelectricity. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The increased competitiveness that bioelectricity offers 
is the biggest incentive for Brazilian sugar mills and ethanol 
distilleries.  According to the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry 
Association (UNICA), the average profit margin for mills that sell 
bioelectricity is 15 percent, while a majority of sugar/ethanol 
mills are suffering losses due to the decline in the price of the 
two commodities.  Including bioelectricity into the production mix 
likewise minimizes exposure to commodity price swings.  As a result, 
newer mills are more focused on ethanol and bioelectricity than on 
sugar production. 
 
Widespread Interest if the Price is Right 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Carlos Silvestrin told Econoff that more than 200 mills 
had registered more than 10,000 MW potential for the three 
electricity auctions this year where bioelectricity will play a 
role, scheduled for July 30, August 12, and August 28.  The GOB's 
price ceiling of R$ 149 MW/h, however, could discourage 
participation and push them toward the free market.  Indeed, Marcelo 
Parodi from Comerc, an electricity trading company based in Sao 
Paulo, told Econoff that several mills were interested in selling 
bioelectricity on the free market via electricity trading companies 
because free market contracts were closer to R$ 170 MW/h.  (Note: 
See Ref C for more on the free and regulated electricity markets. 
End Note.)  As a result, Silvestrin estimated that mills would 
supply about 5,000 additional MW into the system this year, for a 
total of approximately 8,000 MW of installed capacity. (Note: 
According to Aneel's Electricity Matrix, Brazil has 3,160 MW of 
installed bioelectricity capacity from sugarcane as of July, about 
eight percent of installed capacity, but only approximately six 
 
SAO PAULO 00000392  003 OF 004 
 
 
percent of actual electricity generated.  End Note.) 
 
Innovative Contract Designs Reducing Risk 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Unlike hydro generators that produce electricity 
year-round, sugar mills for the most part only generate electricity 
during the harvest season, typically from May to November.  (Note: 
Experts generally refer to bioelectricity generation capacity based 
on half of the excess installed capacity because of this 
seasonality.  End Note.)  Newly developed regulated and free market 
contracts allow mills to sell power during the harvest season, no 
longer requiring them to buy electricity on the spot market to meet 
their contract terms in the off-months.  Traditional contracts had 
required mills to supply electricity every day and had forced them 
to purchase electricity on the spot market, subjecting them to 
enormous price volatility, during the five months they did not 
generate bioelectricity. 
 
Investment Incentives 
--------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The amount of additional investment needed to enable sugar 
and ethanol facilities to produce bioelectricity varies widely 
depending on efficiency and distance from existing transmission 
lines.  For mills that only require efficiency upgrades, the costs 
are minimal compared to potential revenue gains.  Plinio Nastari 
told Econoff that mills could pay off efficiency improvements such 
as new boilers and generators within three to four years, while 
doubling their return on investments by expanding excess generation 
capacity by as little as 15 MW.  The efficiency gains of upgrading 
from a typical 21 bar boiler (circa 2005) to the more efficient 90 
bar boilers currently available, are more than 260 percent.  Carlos 
Silvestrin told Econoff that it would cost USD 10 billion for two 
thirds of mills to upgrade to 90 bar boilers, which would increase 
installed capacity to 14,800 MW and bring Brazil's total installed 
generation capacity to nearly 113,000 MW, or approximately 13 
percent of electricity generation.  (Note: See Refs A, B, and C for 
more information on Brazil's electricity generation.  End Note.) 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The GOB's investment incentives, including attractive 
financing terms with the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) 
and discounts for transmission costs, have also encouraged mils to 
upgrade their facilities.  (Note: The price per MW/h includes the 
cost of using transmission lines from the generation source to the 
Chamber of Commercialization of Electrical Energy (CCEE) and also 
transmission from CCEE to the consumer.  The GOB gives a 50 percent 
discount to generators that produce less than 30 MW of electricity 
from renewable energies, including hydro, biomass, wind and solar 
energy, which brings down costs and provides cheaper power for the 
consumer.  End Note.)  Similarly, Saturnino Sergio da Silva, Vice 
President for Infrastructure at the Federation of Industries of Sao 
Paulo (FIESP) is working with the Sao Paulo government to secure 
state tax benefits for efficiency improvements, and told Econoff 
that Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff had guaranteed federal benefits 
if Sao Paulo succeeded.  Silvestrin told Econoff that mills are 
partnering with investment funds and other private equity investors 
to form special purpose companies to split up generation capacity 
into smaller units to take advantage of government incentives 
offered to small scale generators (less than 30 MW). 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Many Sao Paulo mills already have access to the grid and 
require only retrofit investments; however, connecting to 
transmission lines would require significant investments for many 
mills in the states of Goias and Mato Grosso do Sul.  Nastari 
estimated that one kilometer of high voltage transmission line would 
cost approximately USD 300,000 and noted that several mills are more 
than 50 kilometers away.  The issue of funding transmission lines 
forced the GOB to delay electricity auctions twice while the 
Ministry of Mines and Energy negotiated an agreement with UNICA that 
helped mills finance these connections. 
 
 
SAO PAULO 00000392  004 OF 004 
 
 
Bright Future Ahead 
------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Bioelectricity has the potential to be a powerful force 
in the Brazilian energy matrix.  Second generation technological 
advancements to incorporate sugarcane tops and leaves (known as 
trash) as a source for bioelectricity generation  do not currently 
exist, but will eventually make significant contributions.   UNICA 
estimates that if both trash and bagasse were used, mills could 
nearly double bioelectricity generation without additional sugarcane 
production.  According to Onorio Kitayama, UNICA's bioelectricity 
expert, by 2012 mills on average would contribute more than 4,000 MW 
to the grid using 75 percent of bagasse, but could contribute an 
additional 3,000 MW by using only half of the trash.  (Note: One 
fourth of the bagasse would be used for cogeneration and half of the 
trash would be left on the fields as fertilizers for future crops. 
End Note.)  Kitayama noted that his estimates were based on current 
boiler efficiencies, and that he expected significantly greater 
gains based on projected technological advancements.  Gasification 
technology currently under development would improve efficiency and 
output of bioelectricity and allow flexibility in feedstock 
(including using the trash) for electricity generation.  According 
to Kitayama, gasification would triple the efficiency of steam 
boilers and also could incorporate other feedstocks to drive 
year-round bioelectricity generation. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Bioelectricity will play a key role in determining the 
winners and losers within the sugar and ethanol industry.  Those 
that adapt to capitalize on this developing trend would have a 
competitive advantage over traditional mills.  Incorporating 
bioelectricity into the national electricity grid, whether through 
the GOB sponsored auctions or free market contracts, would also 
provide more energy assurance for the private sector to make 
long-term investment decisions. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) At first glance, bioelectricity appears to compete with 
cellulosic ethanol for the same primary input, bagasse.  Indeed, 
first generation bioelectricity, burning bagasse via steam boilers, 
may limit the receptivity of Brazilian mills to second generation 
cellulosic ethanol production, and until world ethanol prices 
outpace Brazilian electricity prices, it may play second fiddle. 
However, the same technologies under development for cellulosic 
ethanol, specifically gasification, would also revolutionize 
bioelectricity development, providing an opening for both to play a 
role in Brazil's biofuels future.  Bioelectricity also provides an 
opportunity to encourage mills to incorporate other feedstocks to 
produce electricity in the off-season.  During the recent exchange 
visit by U.S. scientists to Brazil under the Biofuels MOU, the U.S. 
scientists identified bioelectricity as a promising area for 
bilateral collaboration for continued focus under the MOU (Ref D). 
End Comment. 
 
¶15.  (U) This cable was coordinated/cleared by the Embassy in 
Brasilia. 
 
STORY