OREANDA-NEWS. January 16, 2017. Almost 60pc of the 8.2GW in planned new thermal power generation capacity scheduled to start up by 2020 faces significant delays or could be scrapped altogether, according to Brazil's electricity regulator Aneel.

Projects are delayed for a broad range of reasons, including environmental licensing lags or a failure to obtain financing.

Of the 87 new thermal projects monitored by Aneel, only 34 are considered to be on track, representing a total potential 1.47GW of new generation capacity by 2020.

Most of the large projects would use regasified LNG as feedstock, while smaller projects are based on domestic natural gas or diesel.

The statistics, released in a recent Aneel report, throw cold water on Brasilia's effort to diminish its reliance on hydroelectricity, which is subject to weather-related fluctuations.

Aneel classified the 1.5GW Porto de Sergipe project as facing "medium" risks for on-time completion by 2020. The plant, which will run on regasified LNG as feedstock, won power purchase agreements in an April 2015 auction.

The project is being developed by Golar Power, a unit of Norway's Golar LNG, together with local energy firm GPE.

In October, Golar Power chief executive Eduardo Antonello said the company is "fully committed to deliver the plant and terminal in accordance with the original budget and schedule."

In November, the company signed a \\$900mn contract with General Electric to build, maintain and operate the plant.

Two other thermoelectric plants, the 1,238MW Novo Tempo project in northeastern Pernambuco state and the 1,238MW Rio Grande project in southern Rio Grande do Sul state, are unlikely to be completed, according to Aneel. Both plants were slated to have associated LNG regasification terminals.

Aneel is in the process of revoking the concessions for the two plants, which are controlled by local construction firm Bolognesi. Aneel said that the environmental licenses were already cancelled.

Two other gas-fired projects, the 1,238MW Novo Tempo thermal project in northeastern Pernambuco state and the 1,238MW LNG-fired thermal project in southern Rio Grande do Sul state, were classified as unlikely to be completed.

Aneel is in the process of revoking the concessions for the two plants, which are controlled by local construction firm Bolognesi.

The two plants won long-term power purchase agreements in a November 2014 government-sponsored tender to supply power to the grid in January 2019.

The list of thermal projects that have no foreseeable date to enter into operation also includes the 1,405MW Angra 3 nuclear plant in Rio de Janeiro. Work on the plant has been paralyzed for over a year because of an ongoing corruption investigation.