Petrobras, Rio de Janeiro, said on March 16 it is in negotiations with Proquigel Quimica SA, a unit of Unigel Group, to lease the ThermoCamacari Thermal Power Plant in the state of Bahia. Proquigel would reportedly use electricity from the natural gas-fired plant to supply at least one of the two nitrogen plants that it leased from Petrobras – Fafen-Bahia and Fafen-Sergipe, according to BNAmericas.
Proquigel has a ten-year lease on the two nitrogen plants (GM Aug. 24, 2020), and is slated to begin urea production in first-half 2021. The timeline for production has most recently been reported as April-May, according BNAmericas. The ThermoCamacari plant is located in Camacari, Bahia, and has installed capacity of 120 MW. Petrobras has been looking for alternatives for the plant for some time; a strategic alliance inked with Total SA in 2016 collapsed.