en.Wedoany.com Reported - Brazil's National Electric Energy Agency (Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica, Aneel) has suspended the commercial operations of the BBF Água Branca thermal power plant of Brasil Biofuels Pará II (BBF), located in Itaituba, Pará state. BBF acknowledged that the plant has never supplied electricity to the grid, as all its power generation revenue has been withheld by Equatorial Pará distribution company to offset regulatory fines imposed by Aneel.
The thermal power plant was a winning project in the third batch of the 2021 isolated system auction, built by the Consórcio BBF Energia Pará, which consists of Brasil Bio Fuels (95% stake) and Amazonbio Indústria e Comércio de Biodiesel da Amazônia (5% stake). The plant received commercial operation authorization on June 3, 2025, with a total installed capacity of 0.63 MW from two generating units, approved by Aneel.
According to Equatorial Pará's report to Aneel, the plant failed to assume load despite meeting all operational requirements and has never supplied power to the grid. BBF responded that the plant's shutdown was due to all generation revenue being withheld by the distribution company to pay fines imposed by Aneel for delays in implementing other contracted projects from the same auction. The company argued that full withholding of receivables made the plant's startup economically unfeasible.
The fines stem from Order No. 3,335/2025, which stipulates 110.8 million reais for unavailability and 80.2 million reais for partial contract terminations, totaling approximately 191 million reais. The decision also formally removes the BBF Faro, BBF São Sebastião da Boa Vista, BBF Porto de Moz, BBF Muaná, BBF Gurupá, and BBF Terra Santa thermal power plants from the 3/2021 Isolated System Energy Commercialization Contract (CCESI).
In its technical analysis, Aneel noted that the plant's unavailability was not caused by operational failures or technical issues, but the financial reasons cited by the company do not justify the suspension of commercial operations. Aneel emphasized that regulations require plants in commercial operation to be effectively available to the power system, regardless of economic reasons, and that revenue withholding is not among the circumstances legally recognized to justify generation unavailability. The Technical Regulatory Authority has initiated an administrative process to assess whether to revoke the plant's license. If violations are confirmed, it could lead to concession revocation. Once the plant resumes operations, the company may apply to Aneel for reinstatement of commercial operations.
The shutdown of the BBF Água Branca thermal power plant is the latest in a series of issues the company faces in the isolated system. Difficulties stem from delays in constructing plants contracted in the 2021 auction. In response, the federal government had to extend existing power generation contracts in Pará state to avoid supply shortage risks before BBF projects came online. Project delays also prompted action by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, which once demanded the replacement of the company's service provider in Rondônia state to prevent blackouts in the isolated system served by the contracts. On the regulatory front, the company has accumulated concession losses and fines. In October 2025, Aneel revoked the license for the company's tenth plant and imposed a fine of 2.7 million reais. Amid financial and regulatory difficulties, BBF has begun preparations to sell control of its operations in Acre state.
