For the first time in history, the production cost of renewables is lower than that of fossil fuels, Kaiserwetter, a leader in renewable energy asset management, can today reveal. Fossil fuels presented costs between US$ 49 and US$ 174 per MWh in the G20 countries during 2017, while renewable energy projects were between US$ 35 and US$ 54. The latest photovoltaic energy auctions in Dubai, Mexico, Chile, Abu Dhabi or Saudi Arabia, and onshore wind energy in Brazil, Canada, India or Morocco in 2017 suggests that the standard cost of energy can be reduced to US$ 30 per MWh from 2018. However, onshore wind energy has already achieved similar costs in projects across Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico and Morocco, already reaching US$ 30 MWh.

Apr 23, 2018 - Reuters

Brazil’s power company Neoenergia on Friday raised its takeover bid for power distribution company Eletropaulo Metropolitana SA) from 25.51 reais to 29.40 reais per share, according to a securities filing. Neoenergia, which is controlled by Spanish company Iberdrola, is competing with Italy’s Enel) for a controlling stake in Eletropaulo, Brazil’s largest power distribution firm. Enel had raised its offer on April 19 to 28 reais per share plus a cash injection of 1.5 billion reais to be made after the acquisition.

Apr 23, 2018 - Bloomberg

Mario Abdo Benitez, a former senator from the ruling Colorado Party, won Sunday’s presidential election in Paraguay, in a surprisingly narrow victory over the opposition candidate. Abdo Benitez, 46, whose father was the secretary of long-ruling dictator Alfredo Stroessner, had 46.4 percent of the vote, with almost 100 percent of voting stations counted, according to preliminary results from the electoral court. Former public works minister Efrain Alegre trailed with 42.7% of votes.

Apr 23, 2018 - Oilprice

After being caught up in major corruption scandals and suffering from what some have claimed was its worst economic downturn in 100-years, Brazil has pulled itself back from the brink. The economy commenced growing again in 2017 with gross domestic product (GDP) expanding by 1 percent and 2018 GDP growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be 2.3%. One of the key drivers of Brazil’s improving economic outlook are Brasilia’s plans to launch what could become the biggest oil boom in Latin American history. You see, Brazil possesses what is rated as being among the top offshore oil assets globally, the massive pre-salt oil fields located in the Atlantic Ocean on the Latin nation’s continental shelf.