Transmission Auction No. 2/2023 will be both one of the smallest and the largest event of its kind ever held by the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL). It will be one of the smallest in terms of the number of lots - only three - and the largest in terms of the estimated investment value: R$ 21.7 billion. The Collegiate Board of the Agency approved the auction notice draft on Tuesday (01/08) for the construction and maintenance of over 3,000 kilometers of transmission lines and substations, with a capacity of 9,840 megawatts (MW) in conversion capacity. The draft will be sent to the Federal Court of Accounts for review in the coming days. The auction is scheduled for December 15th at the B3 headquarters in São Paulo.

The three lots in question involve the construction of 11 projects in five states - Goiás, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Tocantins. With construction periods ranging from 60 to 72 months, they are expected to generate 36.9 thousand jobs.

One of the offered lots, Lot 1, has an estimated investment of R$ 18.1 billion. It includes the delivery of approximately 1,468 km of direct current transmission lines, crossing three states (Maranhão, Tocantins, and Goiás). Due to its complexity, Lot 1 has the longest completion period ever granted by the Agency: 72 months. This period is justified by the size of the project and the capacity of the market to meet construction demands.

After receiving 120 contributions from 21 entities during the Public Consultation No. 008/2023, ANEEL decided to subdivide Lot 1 into four sub-lots to increase competitiveness. The bidding in this case will follow the following dynamics:

1. Interested bidders in the complete Lot 1 or any of the sub-lots must submit five envelopes to the auctioneer, with or without a valid bid for the lot and the four sub-lots. For this, they will previously register in this block, by providing a single proposal guarantee;
2. The auctioneer will conduct two rounds: in the first, the choice will be made whether the grant will be for one contract (complete Lot 1) or 4 contracts (sub-lots), based on a comparison of the proposals presented in the envelopes. In this phase, regardless of the difference between the proposal composed of the sum of the lowest bids for the sub-lots and the best offer for the complete Lot 1, only the solution with the lowest overall value will advance;
3. In the second round, there will be a live bid phase if there are proposals at most 5% above the lowest proposal, for the complete Lot or for each sub-lot individually, as decided in the previous stage.

A technical clarification workshop on the main points of the event is scheduled for October. After the review by the Federal Court of Accounts, the ANEEL Board foresees the publication of the notice and the bidding announcement in November.