Furnas strengthens Espírito Santo supplies with new line, substation

Federally owned Brazilian generator Furnas started operations Wednesday of the Ouro Preto 2-Vitória transmission line and of the expanded Vitória substation, the Espírito Santo state government press service reported. The 245kV, 383km line gives Espírito Santo an alternative link to the country's 77,000km national grid besides the 345km Campos-Vitória line. The frailties of transmission in Espírito Santo were exposed when a January 1 power cut plunged parts of the state and Rio de Janeiro into darkness. Also in Espírito Santo, Furnas is building the Areinha substation in the metropolitan region of state capital Vitória, for which Espírito Santo's environment institute Iema has now granted the environmental license. "Espírito Santo is at the tip of the national grid and these projects are creating a ring to integrate the state into the system," energy and mines minister Dilma Rousseff said in January. Rousseff, Furnas president José Pedro Rodrigues and state governor Paulo Hartung were present at Wednesday's opening ceremony of the new line.