Governor Carlos Massa Ratinho Junior visited Compagas' headquarters in Curitiba on Monday (January 20), where he learned about the company’s investment plans for the coming years. By 2029, the company will invest R$ 505 million with the goal of expanding and interiorizing the distribution network, doubling the number of customers served, in accordance with the State Gas Plan.

The visit was attended by Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cosan, Antonio Simões Rodrigues Junior, CEO of Compass, Rafael Lamastra Junior, CEO of Compagas, among other executives from the group. Since 2024, Compagas has been a private company, under the ownership of Compass, part of the Cosan Group. This was the first official visit of the new management team to Curitiba after the acquisition.

Currently, Compagas has 58.7 thousand customers in Paraná, with a volume of 712,000 cubic meters per day and a network spanning over 900 kilometers. With the expansion plans for the next five years, the number of customers is expected to reach 65,000. The 30-year concession was divided into six major investment cycles in the state.

“The expansion of this network enhances the development conditions of Paraná, especially focusing on the interiorization of gas. It’s very important to see the progress of such a strategic sector because, in practice, this results in more investments, more infrastructure, and more jobs and income in the municipalities served,” said Ratinho Junior.

Compagas' current network serves 16 municipalities between the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba and Campos Gerais. With the investments, more than 460 kilometers of new gas distribution pipelines will be built, expanding the network to more cities, including Maringá and Londrina, in the North and Northwest regions. The work is scheduled to start in the first quarter. Another new development is the connection between Lapa and Araucária.

“We are witnessing a boom in development and investments in cities where our network is installed, such as Ponta Grossa. The presence of the gas network enables this, and these investments will bring the same to other regions as well,” said Rafael Lamastra Junior, CEO of Compagas. “In addition to industries, residential condominiums and new real estate investments are now connected to the network, benefiting all parties involved.”

The State Gas Plan also envisions the inclusion of biomethane in the company’s supply portfolio, with the development of sustainable corridors across various regions of the state.

Concession

The investments presented are part of the total R$ 2.5 billion planned in the company’s concession agreement for the next 30 years. By 2054, Compagas plans to expand the pipeline network by 122% with the construction of new gas pipelines.

With the plan to include biomethane in the company’s operations, the company expects to serve all 10 mesoregions of Paraná. The idea is to integrate the distribution network with the main production areas in the state, enabling the transportation of the renewable fuel through pipelines.

The plan also addresses the regional vocation for biomethane production from pig farming. Paraná is currently the second-largest producer of pigs in Brazil, with over 3 million pigs slaughtered per quarter. With state government incentive programs, such as RenovaPR, producers can invest in their own plants for generating biomethane from animal waste, with zero-interest loans. Currently, more than 400 plants have been installed across the state.

New Pipelines

Of the announced investment plan, R$ 108 million will be used for the construction of 52 kilometers of pipelines between Araucária and Lapa, passing through Contenda in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba. The infrastructure will serve an important agro-industrial complex in the region, including a plant of the Potencial Group, which is expected to become the world’s largest biodiesel complex based on soybean oil.

In Londrina and Maringá, the plan includes investments of R$ 100 million by 2029 for the construction of over 60 kilometers of network. This infrastructure will serve the industrial sectors of both cities, in addition to over 3,000 residential customers. For the next investment cycle, between 2029 and 2032, Compagas also plans a direct link between the two cities.

Present at the meeting were Cássio Santana, General Superintendent of Energy for the State Government; Nelson Roseira Gomes Neto, CEO of Raízen; Renato Fontalva, CEO of Commit; and Adriano Nogueira Zerbini, Vice President of Institutional Relations, Communication, and Sustainability at Compass.