Brazilian consortium wins service contract for Belo Monte hydro plant

A consortium of Brazilian consultanting firms has signed a $146m contract with Norte Energia to provide engineering services for the Belo Monte hydroelectric project to be built in the Xingu River, in the state of Par¨¢, northern Brazil.

Arcadis Logus holds a 35% participation interest in the consortium and will receive $51m of the contract amount, while consulting engineering companies Themag Concremat and Engecorps hold the remaining interests.

The companies will perform design certification, construction management and supervision, planning coordination, expediting and commissioning activities for the plant.

The project will require a total investment of $15bn for civil works, equipment and environmental compensations.

Arcadis Logos CEO Manoel Antonio da Silva said, "Arcadis has a very strong position in this type of large infrastructure projects and we are proud to be involved in such a relevant initiative, which will strongly enhance Brazilian progress."

The company will undertake 118 million m³ of soil excavation, 40 million m³ of rock excavation and use of 4.2 million m³ of concrete for the development.

The plant will have 11,200MW of installed capacity once it begins operations by the second half of 2013.