China's State Grid upbeat about Brazil growth plans

China's State Grid will prioritize transmission, distribution and renewable generation projects in Brazil as it drafts a new growth strategy for the local power market, a company executive said on Thursday.

"We are looking at several opportunities in Brazil, but we need time to analyze them properly to decide which assets have the best synergies with what we currently have," State Grid's international cooperation director, Zhu Guangchao, told reporters.

"In the past seven years we have put a lot of faith in this market. I think that now the Brazilian economy is starting to show signs of improvement. That's why we are increasingly confident. We are very interested in the areas of transmission, distribution and renewable energy."

See State Grid's top Brazil projects here

Among State Grid's projects is a 2,518km transmission line linking the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant in Pará state to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil's southeast.

The company is expected to invest US$3.5bn in the 800kV link, due to completed in December 2019.

In January, the Beijing-based firm reinforced its status as a key player in Brazil by paying US$4.5bn for a 54.64% stake in CPFL Energia, the country's largest private power company.