R$ 30 Billion And 40 Years Later: Angra 3 Nuclear Plant Construction Remains Stalled Due To Government Disagreements

Written by Rafaela Fabris

Published on 10/12/2024 at 13:02

Governo adia aprovação para retomar obras da usina nuclear de Angra 3 (Imagem: Reprodução)

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Project Has Already Consumed R$ 12 Billion, Is 67% Completed, and Could Result in Losses of R$ 21 Billion if Abandoned, but Approval to Resume Construction of Angra 3 Nuclear Power Plant Is Delayed Again.

The government’s megaproject to resume work on the Angra 3 nuclear power plant faces another obstacle. Despite expectations, the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) has postponed the approval of the resolution that would allow construction to continue, which has been stalled for 40 years on the southern coast of Rio de Janeiro. Tuesday’s meeting revealed disagreements among the involved ministers and raised doubts about the fiscal impact of the project.

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, publicly defended the resumption of the project. Studies from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), recently submitted to Eletronuclear, indicate that abandoning the power plant would incur losses of R$ 21 billion, considering past investments and debt settlement costs.

Angra 3: Between Losses and Opportunities

So far, about 67% of the construction of the Angra 3 nuclear power plant has been completed. To finish it, R$ 30 billion will be needed, most of which is expected to come from private financing. Only a fraction of 10% of the total amount would be funded by Eletronuclear’s partners, while the direct impact on public funds would be R$ 1.6 billion.

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Impact on the Energy Sector

One of the major pending issues is the price of the energy generated by Angra 3. BNDES estimated a tariff of R$ 653.31 per megawatt-hour (MWh), considered viable for the continuation of the project. Defining this price is crucial for the power plant, which is part of the national electric system, to become financially sustainable.

Moreover, resuming construction of the Angra 3 nuclear power plant is seen as strategic for diversifying Brazil’s energy matrix, strengthening the role of nuclear energy in the country.

History of the Plant Is Marked by Delays

Since its conception in the 1980s, the project has faced economic crises and corruption scandals. Successive stoppages have led to unusual situations, such as the high maintenance costs of an inactive construction site — about R$ 1 billion per year.

Now, the future of the Angra 3 power plant rests in the hands of the government, which needs to align technical, financial, and political issues to bring one of the biggest challenges in the recent history of the Brazilian energy sector to fruition.

It remains to be seen if the government’s megaproject will have the strength to overcome the barriers and finally come into operation.

R$ 30 Billion And 40 Years Later: Angra 3 Nuclear Plant Construction Remains Stalled Due To Government Disagreements

Project Has Already Consumed R$ 12 Billion, Is 67% Completed, and Could Result in Losses of R$ 21 Billion if Abandoned, but Approval to Resume Construction of Angra 3 Nuclear Power Plant Is Delayed Again.

Angra 3: Between Losses and Opportunities

Impact on the Energy Sector

History of the Plant Is Marked by Delays

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R$ 30 Billion And 40 Years Later: Angra 3 Nuclear Plant Construction Remains Stalled Due To Government Disagreements

Project Has Already Consumed R$ 12 Billion, Is 67% Completed, and Could Result in Losses of R$ 21 Billion if Abandoned, but Approval to Resume Construction of Angra 3 Nuclear Power Plant Is Delayed Again.

Angra 3: Between Losses and Opportunities

Impact on the Energy Sector

History of the Plant Is Marked by Delays

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Ethiopia has banned gasoline and diesel cars, placed over a hundred silent electric buses on the streets of Addis Ababa, and now aims for half a million electric vehicles by 2030, all powered by Africa’s largest dam and a courage that few countries have shown.

Egypt wants to draw 10 million cubic meters of water from the Nile per day into the desert, irrigate a new agricultural frontier, and build a city where there is currently only sand.

BRICS is preparing a payment system inspired by the Brazilian PIX that will allow direct transactions between countries using national digital currencies without relying on the dollar or Western banks as intermediaries.

Norway is drilling 27 kilometers of rock 392 meters below the bottom of a fjord to build the world’s largest and deepest underwater road tunnel — when completed, a 21-hour journey will be reduced to 10.

Chinese engineers begin filling a 217-meter dam at an altitude of 3,000 meters and prepare a 2,240 MW hydroelectric power plant to integrate hydropower, solar, and wind energy in the upper Jinsha.

Giant turbines on the seabed of Scotland have been generating clean energy for nearly a decade without interruption, and now the big promise is that tidal power could solve the biggest problem of solar and wind energy: the unpredictability that no one has been able to overcome until today.

After the collapse in 2022, DNIT conducts a two-day load test and opens on Monday (the 27th) the new bridge over the Altas Mirim river, at km 24 of BR-319, 244.6 m long and 11 m wide, to end the ferry and queues.

The dredge that went to Europe for maintenance returned to Santa Catarina to resume Brazil’s largest beach widening project, which is 8 km long and has already seen 4.9 million cubic meters of sand removed from the sea.

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After the collapse in 2022, DNIT conducts a two-day load test and opens on Monday (the 27th) the new bridge over the Altas Mirim river, at km 24 of BR-319, 244.6 m long and 11 m wide, to end the ferry and queues.

The dredge that went to Europe for maintenance returned to Santa Catarina to resume Brazil’s largest beach widening project, which is 8 km long and has already seen 4.9 million cubic meters of sand removed from the sea.

33 meters beneath a London street, inside tunnels built during World War II, a farm grows salads and herbs using LED, without sun, without soil, and with 70% less water than a conventional garden.