en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Permanent Auction Committee (CPL) of Brazil's National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) has decided to support an administrative appeal filed by Ebrasil, overturning the previous decision to disqualify its consortium with Celne in the March 18 Capacity Reserve Auction (LRCap).
According to a technical note signed by the committee, the decision recommends revoking Ordinance No. 1.850/2026, which had previously disqualified the consortium of the Monte Fuji M1 thermal power plant, and now reinstates its eligibility in the auction. This was the first disqualification implemented by the committee in this auction. According to the bidding document provisions, the company appealed the decision within three business days. The plant, fueled by natural gas, has an installed capacity of 298.99 MW.
The EBrasil/Celne consortium had won the Monte Fuji M1 project with a bid of 2,323,009.12 Brazilian reais per megawatt per year, a winner in the 2028 thermal power product category. During the qualification phase, the CPL deemed that the consortium failed to meet the requirement for member companies to demonstrate minimum net equity in proportion to their respective shareholdings, thus disqualifying it.
In its appeal filed on May 26, EBrasil argued that requiring individual proof of net equity has no basis in Law No. 14.133/2021 and contended that the group's economic and financial capacity was demonstrated through the consolidated assets of the participating companies. The company emphasized that Celne is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EBrasil, which holds 100% of its share capital and leads the consortium.
Based on these arguments, the CPL requested an opinion from the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office for Aneel. In an opinion issued on June 10, the Prosecutor's Office stated that the bidding document's requirement for each consortium member to individually meet the minimum net equity is legally valid and complies with Law No. 14.133/2021, considering the specific characteristics of electricity auctions. The Prosecutor's Office also noted that, in this case, the understanding adopted by Aneel's Board of Directors in Transmission Auction No. 1/2020 could be applied, treating Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) and wholly-owned subsidiaries as equivalent for asset proof purposes.
The opinion considered that the relationship between EBrasil and Celne demonstrates control consistency and sufficient asset structure to prove the economic and financial capacity required to implement the project. The Prosecutor's Office pointed out that EBrasil, as the consortium leader holding 99% of the shares, has net equity exceeding the minimum standard stipulated in the bidding document.
According to documents submitted to the Energy Research Company (EPE), the declared investment amount for the Monte Fuji M1 thermal power plant is 1.564 billion Brazilian reais. The minimum net equity requirement is 10% of this amount, i.e., 156.4 million Brazilian reais. The CPL analysis determined that EBrasil has net equity of 321.867 million Brazilian reais, sufficient to meet the bidding document requirements. The Prosecutor's Office also reiterated that capital increases potentially made after the submission of qualification documents cannot be considered, as the economic and financial requirements must be proven as of the date stipulated in the bidding document.
Based on the legal opinion and technical analysis, the CPL concluded that the consortium meets the necessary conditions to qualify for the auction. The technical note recommends issuing an ordinance to revoke the previous disqualification decision and qualify the Monte Fuji M1 thermal power plant consortium for the 2026 Capacity Reserve Auction.
The committee noted that this situation warrants reflection in future bidding documents, as the consortium consists of two companies from the same economic group, with the minority shareholder being a wholly-owned subsidiary of the leading company. According to the CPL, this configuration does not fully align with the traditional purpose of a consortium, which is to combine the strengths of different legal entities to enhance auction competitiveness. After the appeal period ends and any potential review of new appeals, the CPL recommends submitting the process to the reporting director for partial approval of the results and awarding of the auction items.
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