Chinese consortium wins Brazil's hydro-electric project

A Chinese-led consortium has won the contract to build an electric transmission line in what is expected to be Brazil's second-largest, and one of the world's largest, hydro-electric projects.

The IE Belo Monte consortium, led by China's State Grid Brazil Holding SA (51 percent), was announced the winner Friday for the Belo Monte project, with a bid offering annual remuneration of more than 400 million reals (100 million U.S. dollars).

The project will transmit electricity produced by the Belo Monte dam in Brazil's northern state of Para, to the country's southeast region, with a planned installed capacity of 11,233 megawatts.

The other partners in the consortium are Brazilian state-owned Central Furnas SA (24.5 percent) and North Central Electric SA (24.5 percent).