OREANDA-NEWS. March 23, 2012. MPX, an EBX group company controlled by Eike Batista, closed 2011 with a record breaking annual investment of BRL  2 billion in the construction of power plants Energia Pecem, Pecem II (Ceara), Itaqui and Parnaiba (Maranhao), together with the mineral coal exploratory campaign in Colombia. Since the beginning of their implementation, the enterprises have received a total of BRL  5.4 billion, generating more than 10 thousand direct jobs. Until the end of 2013, the company plans to invest additional BRL  2.1 billion to conclude projects which are under implementation. This investment corresponds to a guaranteed revenue in long term contracts around BRL  24 billion.

"We had an outstanding year with record volume of investment and doubled our energy portfolio to 3,000 MW. We are still in pre-operational phase, but the power plants under construction will generate annual revenue of BRL  1.5 billion in agreements of up to 20 years' duration”, says the CEO of MPX, Eduardo Karrer. In the testing phase, the power plants Energia Pecem (720 MW) and Itaqui (360 MW) will become operational this semester. The enterprises have employed a total of 9,000 workers in 2011. As far as Pecem II is concerned, it is being implemented to become operational in the second semester of this year. Still in 2011, after securing the sales of 1,553 MW of the Parnaiba plant, MPX began to work, in the second semester, in that which will be the biggest gas powered thermoelectric enterprise in Brazil, in the municipality of Santo Antonio dos Lopes, in the state of Maranhao.  More than 800 people are already working on the enterprise. The first phase of 675 MW of installed capacity will begin operations in 2013, while total capacity of 1,553 MW will be completed in 2014. The planned investment in the plant’s construction and gas exploration reach BRL  3.8 billion.

“MPX’s planned expansion was only made possible due to our decision, in 2009, of investing with OGX in gas operation. We are the only private company which controls the fuel used in our plant and this was decisive to negotiate 1,553 MW in contracts in 2011”, explains Karrer, adding that the company has the objective of increasing the installed capacity in Parnaiba, since the company has 3,722 MW licensed. Currently, OGX Maranhao, a partner of OGX with MPX, develops an intense exploratory campaign to increase its gas offer, which will reach 6 million cubic meters per day in 2013.

After negotiations during 2011, MPX has closed an important strategic partnership with German E.ON in the beginning of 2012, with the goal to develop a total generation capacity of 20,000 MW projects in Brazil and Chile. "Our partnership with E.ON reinforces our goal to create the largest private energy company in Brazil, combining high volume of generation with energy trading. In addition to the 3.000 MW contracted, we have 11.000 MW licensed and we will search for new projects to develop or acquire”, says the CEO of MPX. E.ON is one of the leading global investor-owned energy players and currently operates a world-wide power portfolio of 69 GW.   It is active in Europe, Russia and North America and its core businesses are renewables generation, conventional generation energy trading, global gas and innovative energy solutions for customers. E.ON aims to improve the world of energy wherever it operates, making it cleaner and better.

In the area of mineral coal, which will be split from MPX to form CCX, the company develop a exploratory campaign, which achieved significant advances. In 2011 35 holes were drilled in a total of 27,700 meters, in order to define the geological formation of mineral coal in the subterranean mine of San Juan. All the holes indicated positive results, allowing for the elaboration of a report of resources and reserves that will be concluded in the fist semester of 2012.

The project envisages the production of 35 million tons of mineral coal per year, integrated to a 150 km railway and a dedicated port.  Port licensing is underway and is expected to be concluded in the first quarter of 2013, in accordance with the current schedule. “MPX developed a very big work and formed a high level team to develop the production of mineral coal. We will be one of the great players in production in Colombia”, comments MPX’s CEO.

MPX was awarded, in December, the ECO 2011 prize for the pioneering development of the solar plant of Taua, the only one in Latin America that will produce solar energy and which will be linked to the Interconnected National System. The company invested in the qualification of the inhabitants of the regions where it works in Brazil, Chile and Colombia, with up to 1,500 job opportunities arising from various courses in professional training. The company also started, in the state of Ceara, a voluntary social project to improve the population’s quality of life through health and nutrition education, serving more than 5.000 schoolchildren and their families.

Result – MPX closed the year of 2011 with a negative financial result of BRL  408,6 million. This amount suffered an impact from the assembly of the plant’s implementation and operation structure and development of the integrated mining project in Colombia, as well as from the financial and accounting cost of raising BRL  1.4 billion in debentures. Still in 2012, with the conversion of debentures into MPX stocks anticipated in the partnership agreement with E.ON, the financial cost will be reduced.  This result is due to the current phase of great investment in projects. “We are a pre-operational company which invests a great deal in the implementation of its enterprises. Once we are operational, we will have revenues of up to BRL  1.5 billion in 2014 that will bring positive results to the company. We will already have part of our revenues in 2012, when Energia Pecem and Itaqui become operational”, explains Karrer.