Eletrobras, a company in the electricity sector in Brazil, debuted in the green bond market with an issue made by its subsidiary CGT Eletrosul. R$ 185 million (about US$ 34,6 million) will be put on the market in the form of “debentures” to support infrastructure projects.

Eletrobras’ entry into the thematic bond market was supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Involved in about 30% of this kind of issuance in the Latin American and Caribbean market, the IDB supported Eletrobras technically and financially during the necessary steps previous to the entry in this market, including: the improvement of Eletrobras ESG rating and the preparation and updating of important documents like the framework of the thematic bonds and the Second-Party Opinion (SPO). For all this process, the IDB hired the Brazilian company Sitawi, a reference in the market.

With the issuance, the company hopes to increase investments linked to the Transmission Concession Contracts of ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency of Brazil), framed by the Ministry of Mines and Energy as transmission lines priority projects.

In order to achieve this issuance, the company went through several steps such as obtaining the so-called Second Party Opinion, a document issued by an independent verifier that assesses a company’s ability to issue green bonds. In the case of Eletrobras, the assessment was done by Vigeo Eiris, a rating agency linked to Moody’s and one of the most respected in the global market. From then on, all companies in the Eletrobras group are considered apt to issue the bonds.

The Brazilian company also progressed satisfactorily in the stage of updating its sustainability framework (framework), necessary for the certification of the CBI (Climate Bonds Initiative), a reference in the segment.

In addition to the transmission market, Eletrobras already has, since 2020, the CBI and Second Opinion Certification for wind and solar generated energy projects.