Arlington, VA – Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a technical assistance grant to Brazilian electric distribution utility CEMIG Distribuição S.A. that will facilitate the growth of renewable power generation across the State of Minas Gerais. USTDA’s assistance will create a five-year investment plan to help the utility integrate a rapidly growing number of consumers and solar-power systems into its grid. CEMIG Distribuição selected New York-based Vrinda Inc. to perform the assistance.
“USTDA is partnering with utilities in Brazil and emerging economies around the globe to lay the foundation for their clean energy futures. Our work is helping our partners make the most appropriate strategic investments for their needs,” said Enoh T. Ebong, USTDA’s Director. “Our support for this activity will advance U.S. industry’s participation in Brazil’s dynamic power sector while providing CEMIG Distribuição with solutions to modernize its operations and manage its distribution system more efficiently.”
The technical assistance will create a distribution investment plan to advance CEMIG Distribuição’s goal of becoming a decentralized, decarbonized, and digitized utility. It will include a domestic regulatory analysis and identify international best practices for distribution asset modernization. The assistance will also include a financing plan and a roadmap for implementing the recommended investments.
CEMIG Distribuição Director, Marney Tadeu Antunes, said: “CEMIG Distribuição is one of the largest utilities in Latin America. We have major challenges for the coming years, such as decentralization and consumer empowerment, automation and IoT, decarbonization, electric mobility, distributed resources, ancillary services and grid management. In this sense, the project with USTDA is extremely important to achieve our goals and improve service to our clients.”
This is USTDA’s fourth technical assistance activity with CEMIG Distribuição. Previous collaborations have led to the successful deployment of U.S. smart grid and distributed energy systems.
USTDA’s latest activity with CEMIG Distribuição supports the international climate and economic cooperation priorities of the U.S. government, including USTDA’s Global Partnership for Climate-Smart Infrastructure and the U.S.-Brazil Energy Forum.
###
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.
MEDIA INQUIRIES: Paul Marin | (703) 875-4357