Engie Brasil Energia SA
BOVESPA:EGIE3
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Engie Brasil Energia SA
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We are now beginning the video conference to announce the results of ENGIE Brasil Energia for the second quarter 2023. I'm Adriana Wagner, IR analyst, and I would like to make some costs before we begin this video conference. [Operator Instructions] This video conference is also being recorded. You may find on our website, www.engie.com.br all the files of the presentation in the earnings release in addition to the ITR and all the documents, which were filed yesterday at CVM. They contain details of the analysis of the financial statements, operational results, ESG indicators and progress in the implementation of new projects, including other highlights in the period.
Before proceeding, we would like to clarify that any forward-looking statements that may be made during this video conference relating to the company's business outlook should be regarded as forecasts, which depend on the country's economic situation, on the performance and regulation of the electricity sector and other variables and are, therefore, subject to change. We remind you that journalists who wish to ask questions may send us an e-mail to the company's press advisers.
To present the development of the performance of ENGIE Brasil Energia in Q2, today, with us Eduardo Takamori, CFO; and Rafael Bosio, IR Manager. I'll now turn the floor over to Mr. Takamori to begin his presentation.
Good morning. I hope everybody can hear me. Good morning. First of all, thank you all for attending this video conference. It's the first time I'm going to speak as the CFO of ENGIE Energia and moving on to the highlights. First of all, I would like to say that it was a very exciting quarter. We had many relevant effects, some of them were noncash. And looking at EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA was BRL 1.8 billion relative to EUR 1.9 billion in the previous quarter -- in the same quarter last year, a drop by 5.2%. However, this adjusted EBITDA increased over 10% if we take into account the transmission business. And when we look on a semester basis, the first 6 months of '22 versus the first 6 months of 2023, we see a 2.3% increase in adjusted EBITDA.
The main drivers were noncash, with a noncash effect, but the main drivers of Q2 were the following: first, BRL 239 million of positive effect when we recognize the fair value of the extension of the Estreito HPP. This was recognized in Q2, and the Estreito concession will be extended by 2 years and 4 months, and we recognized this.
Then as negative effects, we had an important effect of IPCA in this quarter as compared with the IPCA last year. And therefore, there is a smaller remuneration of the generation. Part of it is IFRS and also a smaller remuneration of contract assets, and that has to do with our transmission assets. Additionally, there was a periodic transmission tariff review, which had a negative impact of EUR 64 million. This is, again, is a noncash effect. This review happened at the turn of the quarters, but we do have to recognize the future values.
The upside is that when we look at the net income between the quarters, we see on the right-hand side, there was a substantial increase from BRL 514 million to BRL 806 million, a 57% increase approximately because of the IPCA again. When the IPCA goes down, we have a lower financial cost, but this is a net financial result, which is positive for us year-on-year. And when we compare semester-on-semester, the net -- the adjusted net income increased to BRL 1.69 billion, nearly 50%.
I'm now going to turn the floor over to Rafael, who is going to give you a little bit more color about the highlights of the quarter.
Thank you very much, Takamori. Good morning to all. Good morning, and thanks for attending, and thanks for your interest in ENGIE Energia. On Slide 6, you see the nonoperational highlights. And as Takamori said, it was a very special quarter. Many important events happened. And I'll start with the success we had in the transmission auction carried out by ANEEL in June. We acquired Lot 5. This is a project that we are already developing. And it will include 1,000 kilometers in transmission lines crossing the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santos. And this will help us transmit the energy we generate in the Northeast to the load centers in the Southeast.
The second item, which was a landmark and the crowning of long-term work we did was the completion of the sale of Pampa Sul thermal power plant. We changed our strategy and the group decided to no longer have coal-fired power plants. This was finalized now with the asset of this asset on May 31. And now in ENGIE Brasil Energia is now the largest generating company in Brazil with 100% renewable electricity company in Brazil.
Then the third event is the recognition of the amounts relating to the extension of the Estreito concession. This was something that we had communicated to the market in a material fact in January this year, and we are now recognizing the effects of that in our financial statements.
The fourth item relates naturally to the sale of the Pampa Sul TPP, and we have approved in the Board new targets for our climate journey. We aim to reduce the intensity of emissions by 30% until 2025 and 50% until 2030. This relative to what we had in 2021. We are going to increase our renewables energy, and 100% of our assets will have plans for climate adaptation. We are also aware that with the sale of Pampa Sul, our major challenge will be to reduce the intensity of emissions under Scope 3 that is third-party emissions. And we want to engage 100% of our main suppliers so that they can define targets in line with 2030. This is a new phase of our journey.
On Slide 7, we highlight the signing of the contract for the modernization of the generating units of Jaguara for the amount of BRL 515 million. And Jaguara and Miranda were 2 assets acquired by ENGIE in 2017. And Jaguara started operating in 1971 over 50 years ago. So the time has come for an upgrade and we are trying to increase the reliability, the useful life and the availability of the plant. This will take some years and should be completed by 2028.
Then another highlight was the improvement of our Fitch rating. We went from BB to BB+, and this was also because of the improvement of the sovereign rating. We are one notch below investment grade. If the sovereign rating is uplifted, we will naturally become investment grade, or rather go back to having investment grade. And then our Board has approved the distribution of interim dividends for BRL 767 million, which is a payout of 55% of the distributable net income. And the shares will trade ex-dividends from August 22, 2023. This payout is in compliance with our dividend policy. And this is the result of the careful planning of the cash position of the company, which allows us to look for new opportunities, to capture new opportunities in the short term. And also enables us to comply with our expansion plans and other commitments.
In terms of ESG KPIs, many of them naturally reflect our strategy of no longer having coal-fired plants, especially if we compare this with 2021 in terms of intensity and total emissions and water intake, there was a very significant drop because of the sale of Jorge Lacerda and Pampa Sul. It is something that you can also see in the percentage of women in the workforce.
In coal-fired assets, there was a larger concentration of men. In terms of the sale of energy, we are having very -- we had very good results in the quarter. If you look at the left-hand graph, which is a summary of our energy balance, you will see that we have a high rate of contracts and we are reducing decontracting going forward. So on average, we sold 64-megawatt average from 2023 to 2028. And the good news is that our average sale prices are very high. This is natural. As I said, the contracting level is very high. 1/3 of our contracts are in the regulated market. These are indexed contracts for the long term, and they guarantee a certain stability in terms of revenue, in terms of results and also greater consistency.
It is something that we offer to our clients when we sell energy gradually and ahead of needs so that companies are not caught off guard, so that the company is not caught off guard. Whether because hydrological conditions are better or not, we protect our revenue in this way. Also in terms of commercial strategy another good news is the results we are seeing in terms of capturing those consumers who leave the regulated environment and move to the free market.
This number has increased by 23% relative to Q2 2022. The number of consuming units has increased by 16%, and we have been able to maintain a 9% market share. That is we are dealing more in the retail market where returns are more competitive. And we can offer renewable products to our clients at a lower cost than the cost that they find in their distributors.
Now giving you some update on the expansion projects. We are working in different fronts, which attests to our ability to deliver on the plans. We have 3 projects in generation, which are going to add another 2 gigawatts of installed capacity. The first one, which is going to start operating in 2023 is the Santo Agostinho Wind Complex. The overall physical progress reached 73%. And despite some events with the wind turbines, one in July and one last Friday, we assessed the blades of the 2 turbines, but we still feel comfortable that we will start commercial operations by the end of this year. So everything is on track. At the end of Q2, 21 turbines were operating commercially on a test basis.
And until yesterday, we added another 6 turbines. Then Serra do Assurua wind project is 1 of the largest of the ENGIE group in the world. Huge 846 megawatts of installed capacity, and this will demand some BRL 6 billion in investments. We began the implementation in 2023. We estimate to ramp up the operation until the second semester of next year. And this will guarantee a discount throughout the authorization of operation. This is going to be a competitive advantage in the future.
The energy generated here will be extremely competitive and will be directed to the free contracting environment. As you can see in our energy balance, we continue to sell energy for '25, '26 and '27, and this energy is going to come out of our portfolio. The works are underway, and we will continue to move forward.
Then on Slide 15, you see our last project for generation. It's a solar energy, a photovoltage complex called Assu Sol. And just as Assuruá,the energy is being directed to the free market. In the second quarter of 2023, we obtained the installation licenses, we have signed the main supply agreements, and we started works in the third quarter of 2023 in Rio Grande do Norte state, where we also have 2 other projects, Floresta and Assu V, in the region of 752-megawatt installed and 234 megawatt of commercial capacity with a CapEx of BRL 3.3 billion.
And then speaking about -- we are going to improve the substation of Itacaiúnas, which is part of Nova Estado, another transmission system we have. We will invest BRL 81 million, and it should start operating in the beginning of next year. That means we were able to bring it forward relative to the deadline established by ANEEL.
On Slide 17, this is the new slide for the transmission project called Asa Branca. This is Lot 5 of the auction held in June 2023. This is going to be our fourth asset in the transmission segment. It will benefit from synergies coming from another project that will be implemented in the same region, and we will be able to accelerate the commercial operation on a gradual manner, just as we did in Novo Estado and Gralha Azul.
We can tap the expertise that has been developed by suppliers, also the environmental license, labor and also the land issues that were sorted out. We are also signing the first contracts, and we are beginning to implement this project in Q3 2023. This will demand BRL 2.7 billion in CapEx.
On Slide 18, you see the Jirau data, our ENGIE -- our controller ENGIE Brasil Energia owns 40%. The uptime operating factor in Q2 was 100%. That is the asset is performing beautifully. And as you all know, we are now waiting for the signs coming from the controller in the sense of a signing, it's interest in this asset, and we will need the approval of an independent committee, who deals with interested parties or rather related parties.
We are waiting for the developments in that front. And then we present the potential we have for growth with a very vigorous pipeline, nearly 1.8 gigawatt in wind projects and solar projects to be implemented once we find the best possible conditions in commercial terms, in terms of leverage, and therefore, we will be ready to tap these opportunities.
Here, I end my presentation. And I turn the floor to Takamori to present on our financial performance in Q2.
Thank you, Rafael. Good to see the projects, many things ahead of us. On this slide, I would like to highlight some of the performance metrics. The first one on the center of the slide is that the return on invested capital was in excess of 20%, which is in line of 2021 and 2022. It's a very good mark. Also the return on equity on the left-hand side was 35%, which is also exceptional and is above what we achieved in the previous years. The value we create for the shareholders arises from efficient, strategic management, preemptive management.
We were also able to contract all the portfolios before the prices really went down. And also, in the last few years, we had -- we saw a diversification in our portfolio, and this was a strategic decision. Our revenue and our EBITDA comes from different sources, which makes it even more healthy.
On the right-hand side, you see some numbers. We have invested over BRL 25 billion from 2016 to 2022 to diversify the portfolio, including gas and energy transmission. And in terms of also growing our renewable energy portfolio. On the lower part, you see that the effect of our strategic decision, which was executed in the last few years, allowed us to move from a portfolio based on generation in 2016 and include a portfolio where 80% is represented by generation. And part of it is regulated with long-term contracts, which gives us predictability in terms of flows and 12% comes from TAG, T-A-G, and 9% in from transmission assets. These numbers will fluctuate.
We have many new renewable projects coming on stream in the next few years and also a major transmission asset, this all having to do with our plans, which were carefully designed to ensure that we have this fantastic indicators in terms of ROE and ROIC.
On the next slide, you see our net operating revenue. We start with NOR of nearly BRL 3 billion to BRL 2.6 billion in Q2 2023. This is a variation of minus 12.9% throughout this year. There are 4 relevant elements; one is BRL 57 million in terms of reduction that has to do with price and sales volume. This is always top line. So there was a reduction by 4% in terms of sales volume in this quarter, which has to do with the exiting of regulated contracts of Pampa and also free consumers. And this was partially mitigated against by the increase in the average sales price.
Despite the low prices, which is always a challenging situation, the average increase was by 1.5%, which mitigates against the lower volumes contracted. Then the second element, minus BRL 60 million, this is a noncash effect that has to do with the lower remuneration of the assets in Jaguara and Miranda, which are treated differently in the accounting system than a reduction in the trading operation, and that is for minus BRL 57 million. It's not that we ran a loss, but we reduced the sales volume from BRL 160 million to BRL 100 million between the quarters we are comparing.
And then the last item, BRL 214 million is a noncash effect that has to do with the reduction of the remuneration of the transmission assets of Miranda because of the reduction of IPCA. This accounts for BRL 154 million out of the BRL 214 million. There was also a drop in the revenues from construction. When we stop construction, we stop having the construction revenue, which had been contributing to EBITDA in the last few years.
The RAP we received was very close to -- it was 99% of the total RAP for transmission assets. They have been fully commissioned and are ready for commercial operations.
On the following slide, before we speak of EBITDA, I would like to talk about the results of TAG. We started with a net operating revenue of BRL 2.3 billion. There were different events. There was a gain of efficiency with some. When the O&M service provider was replaced, there were some internal events, but the net income was BRL 640 million. Because we own approximately 1/3 of TAG, of this BRL 640 million, to BRL 208 million contributes to the EBITDA of ENGIE through equity pickup.
And here, this is a more challenging slide. There're many elements there, but it shows the change in EBITDA between quarters. So the adjusted EBITDA of Q2 2022 can be compared with the EBITDA of Q2 2023. So we have a variation of 5.2%. But once we make the adjustments of the marking of the transmission assets, we look at the middle and then we start from BRL 1.72 billion to BRL 1.79 billion. So once we deduct these effects, we have an EBITDA that has increased by over 10%, nearly 11%.
And this happens because, as you can see here, we had BRL 239 million, which is the recognition of the extension of the Estreito concession, then BRL 83 million coming from the purchase of energy, minus 57 million in terms of price and sales volume, minus BRL 63 million for CCEE. So these are commercial effects of the generation sector. There are less purchases, which is good, less sales, which is bad, and also the result of the CCEE, which was partially mitigated by exports in Q1 and Q2. This package, practically BRL 239 million, I mean, plus the 3 effects, account for the variation of nearly BRL 200 million. Then we have minus BRL 60 million, the financial asset remuneration of the generation assets, and this has to do with the reduction of IPCA. This is a noncash effect. Then we have BRL 71 million, which includes different line items, including the recognition of a decision by the tax authorities, and we had to pay ICMS over coal that we acquired, then -- this was a one-off effect. Then the payment of connection in Santa Agostinho. This is part of organic growth, so it's expected, and also an important variation in terms of personnel.
You may have seen in our release what happens, but this is not a typical quarter. It's not a quarter where you do -- you give bonus, reversal of bonus, the exit of Pampa from our portfolio, gains of scale, increasing headcount to prepare ourselves for the transmission auction, and because we hired headcount, we were able to succeed in the transmission auction. So it might not be the easiest quarter to understand, but anyway, after we do the maths, the variation was BRL 71 million negative. And then this was offset by a positive variation of BRL 68 million in transmission. This was very straightforward.
The RAP increased relative to last year because apart from Asa Branca, all the other assets are already operational, that is Gralha Azul and Nova Estado a small lot of Gaviao is being finished, completed very shortly. And Asa Branca is still beginning. And then we also had the variation of TAG, which last year contributed a bit less in the second quarter of 2022, and now has contributed [ 48% ]. I just wanted to highlight on the last bar, non-adjusted EBITDA to adjusted EBITDA. We had to reverse the impairment of Paracatu and Pampa, a partial reversion, and we are considering it as nonrecurring, but it explains this BRL 88 million.
In terms of net income, starting with the central bars, we have BRL 514 million to BRL 806 million, a very substantial increase by nearly in our net income. And the main driver, BRL 489 million, was the reduction of financial expenses and of debt. BRL 200 million had to do with the monetary variation of inflation and BRL 257 million has to do with income and other elements.
There was also a positive variation of the concessions to be paid. Last year, we suffered. We were hit by higher IPCA. And now we have a positive effect that gives us some relief. With these concessions, payable concessions the IPCA was not as heavy on us. Then we have the effect of a lower financial revenue because also of a lower cash position. Then depreciation and amortization, which increased a little bit, but it's not really material. Then we transferred the adjusted EBITDA, which was reduced by BRL 99 million. And because the tax rate or the tax bracket is higher, we pay more contributions in taxes.
But despite all of that, of course, we had BRL 806 million in adjusted net income in Q2 2023.
On the next slide, you see our debt. Please note that at the end of Q2, the total debt was close to BRL 19 billion. If we consider BRL 5 billion that we have in cash and all the deposits, the debt in Q2 will be BRL [ 13.9 million ]. And as you can see here, we have a very comfortable leverage in terms of net debt over EBITDA. Very good cash position.
We have to distribute dividends. We will be communicating that very shortly, but we know that this level of leverage is temporary. This allowed us to make several investment decisions, which we are going to present on later. So we can expect the leverage to grow, which is what we expect. It is in line of an optimal structure of capital for the company.
And here, in terms of the debt profile and composition, we have a AAA rating. The cost of debt is very competitive. And if you look to the right-hand side, at the end, our cost is 9% a year, IPCA plus 6%, very efficient. This creates value for the shareholders. And we have IPCA because of our debentures and also debt from development banks, and the profile of the maturation of the debt is very comfortable. It is compatible with our cash generation. The average duration is 7 years.
And we will be commenting now on the challenges ahead of us. In terms of CapEx, you can see that in addition to the efforts we made, those BRL 5 billion, we have major initiatives for 2023, '24 and '25. If we add them up, we will be investing BRL 14 billion concentrated in the investments we're making next year. This explains in part why we are paying 55% of the payable income as dividends.
Of this, BRL 3.8 billion in 2023. This investment has been made, and in the second semester, we will be seeing the end of the construction of Santo Agostinho. And as you saw in Assuruá also will be requiring investments. In 2024, Assuruá is going to progress, should be close to -- Assurua should be close to completion. And we are making also major investments in Asa Branca.
In 2025, we complete Assuruá and Asa Branca will still be under construction.
This is why, on the next slide, you see how this translates in terms of our decision, a strategic decision to distribute 55% of the payable income in the first half of 2023. This is a strategic decision. It's conservative, but in addition to all our commitments in terms of CapEx, from now on, this could be in excess of BRL 500 million per month. So we have to be diligent and careful.
We also have, as Rafael briefly mentioned, we want to maintain a robust balance sheet to take advantage of short-term opportunities. There are things happening in the market, and we are watching this from a very close range. If nothing materializes, we will review our policy and try to maximize return for the shareholders.
Maybe we can have an interim distribution. What we can say today is that we try to maximize returns for shareholders. Of course, this is a very challenging moment in the market, but also brings us opportunities. That's why we decided to distribute 55% of the payable net income. I'll turn the floor to Rafael now.
This is Adriana speaking. Thank you very much, Takamori and Rafael. [Operator Instructions]. First question is from Mr. Ban file, our investor, and he asks what will be the company's approach in the next auctions, transmission auctions?
Can I talk about it? You saw that we have a series of financial commitments for the next few years, BRL 14 billion, internal investments and so on. And naturally, this will not prevent us from participating in the next transmission auctions. The next one is quite specific. There is a relationship between lots, which is quite peculiar. And we might not have a lot of appetite for this one. We have a wonderful team. Our priority now is to ensure that all the premises we had for the auction correct.
So we want to make Asa Branca a reality, and we might not be that hungry for the next auction, but we will look at it. It makes sense for us to invest in transmission, not only to improve the transmission of the renewables we produce in the Northeast to the load center, but also to diversify our portfolio. So it makes sense for us to invest in transmission.
Thank you, Takamori. Our next 2 questions are from Guilherme Lima from Sell-side Santander. Could you comment on the prospects of distributing dividends given the CapEx cycle and potential growth? Could you maybe expect 100% of payout in 2023 or 2024?
No, I think that obviously, it's too early to create expectations. Our objective is always to maximize dividend payout. We have been conservative in our decision at this point in time, but you saw that our leverage is fairly comfortable, and we will use the leverage in order not to prevent the distribution of dividends. It would be premature of me to comment on how long it's going to take, but we are monitoring the situation. We are also going to use different tools in terms of leverage. We are assessing different options.
The market has improved a lot in this last few months. And we want to have the flexibility to make good decisions to try and optimize the share performance and the return for shareholders. And if I may add, it's also something that Takamori touched upon. We also want to have flexibility in terms of our capital structure. For a long time now, we have been telling the market that opportunities would arise with an oversupply, with an excess of projects.
Some projects might come up in the secondary market and some may want to dispose of the assets of their investments and this might present opportunities for us. This has been happening. We don't want to miss out on these opportunities. We don't want to lose this opportunity. If a good project comes up to enable us to grow our portfolio, we don't want to miss out on opportunities.
Yes, these are things that happen in parallel. Our commitment is towards maximizing payout, but we also want to grow. We want to diversify the portfolio, and we have to watch market conditions. We don't want to have to resort to debt if the scenario is not a benign scenario. And we don't want to lose the flexibility of our balance sheet.
As regards the second question from Guilherme, Santander he asks about the export of energy. How are the talks like with the government and the sector as regards the export of energy from hydropower plants, which are not operational yet?
This is a very good question. This money on the table, huge money, for the hydropower plants. Given the oversupply is just natural that there should be energy being generated in the next period, we have been moving forward in these discussions, and we are hopeful that this will be looked upon with good eyes by the government. Many people are involved in these conversations. But yes, there will be a change, we think, in the rules that allow us to bring forward the exports of the energy generated in hydropower plants.
It's a lot of money on the table, and it's a very efficient manner to generate foreign currency for Brazil and to help neighboring countries to reduce their energy costs.
Next one is from Mr. Roberto from Banco Safra. He says in the energy balance, we saw higher prices for the sale of energy relative to the prices of today. In terms of purchase, lower prices for 2025, what is the commercial strategy of the company?
We always try to optimize the portfolio so that we can maximize results without taking additional risk. Most of our contracting strategy has been brought forward. And now you see prices are low. So we have to think in terms of whether we want to sell or not. We continue to make operations that make sense for the end users. We are partners. But naturally, we are not going to take on commitments, which we will regret in the long term. We, therefore, end up being a bit more selective in terms of the operations we want to engage in. Once operations make sense for the clients, we will look to make them, but we are not running anymore. We are past that stage.
Next question is from Mr. [indiscernible]. So can investments in generation increased investments that have no PPA when you consider the current prices in the free market?
It's very difficult to continue to invest Antonio. We have significant commitments. We were able to establish long-term contracts. This is all within the plan. When we made the investment decision, we had the understanding that the price would be low in the first few years of operations. But we see a context where it doesn't make much sense to move forward unless there is a clear signal that prices and demand are recovering.
A more rational view in terms of subsidies on the part of the government and so on. So we are being cautious. We are not as keen to invest in generation in addition to what we have to do because we have committed to. It doesn't mean that we are going to stop analyzing opportunities. We don't want to increase the risk in our portfolio, but there are some things we are not happy to do.
The second question, also from Mr. [indiscernible]. Can you give us a little bit more color about the expectations of the company in the free market in the next 3 years? I think you have commented on it.
If I could add, Adriana, the Asa Branca lot is parallel to a lot that was auctioned last year and there is a lot of synergy there. We can take advantage of the chain, the supply chain that was developed by the entrepreneur of the other lot. So although there is no synergy in terms of companies, of course, or agreement, you can use the subcontracted parties and all the chain that has been developed to accelerate the process. So we will be able to bring the operations forward.
And CapEx, it's not the differential here in this project. It's not the differential of this lot. We are not going to do anything crazy and be irresponsible. The differential here is the optimization of operations, of implementation, the skilled team who worked on this lot throughout a lot of time and came up with a very efficient design.
Our next question is from an investor, an individual, Ronaldo. He would like to know what the policy is and what is the vision for the repurchase of shares of the company to maximize return for shareholders?
Shall I take this one? We actually don't have a policy to repurchase shares. What we did in the past was issue bonuses, a split, but this is always under the radar once the opportunity arises. With the opportunities we have in the sector, it may be more -- the return may be greater if we continue to invest these amounts to grow the company, either in generation, transmission or connected assets.
This was -- that was not the best option we had in terms of employing the funds that we had.
Next question from Mr. Olivera, also an individual investor, and he wants to know what are the reasons why the company does not disclose the minutes for the payout of dividends.
This is influenced by the lack of predictability for the elements that are on the table now, Ronaldo. I can imagine that it's not easy. But what we can say is that, very shortly, we are going to disclose the date of the payout of dividends from last year. And for this first semester, it's a different discussion. What happens is that there are many things at the table. The capital markets were closed until a short time ago. Many emissions are happening now. They're going to pay a premium -- many issues, sorry. So we are going to -- we are studying the best -- what the best time would be for us to exit these markets without causing problems to the shareholders.
We always want to distribute as much dividend as possible, but we need to be cautious at this point in time, but you will have news shortly about the payout date for the dividends of last year.
Next question is from Mr. [indiscernible] from Sell-side UBS. What will be the minimum price of PLD for 2024?
Is it possible from a regulatory point of view to increase the PLD price to an amount that is closer to the amount of the quotes?
This is a very good question. We are seeing a change in the energy portfolio. Many projects have come on stream with a 0 variable cost. And when the recovery of variable cost is close to 0, how do we deal with that? The marginal cost may reflect it better. But obviously, we continue to discuss and to find partners to discuss this what are the concerns of the regulator and the policymakers. We continue to work on this topic, but it's obviously a very sensitive issue because it involves the establishment of a minimum of a ceiling. It is fair, but maybe it's not a conversation that has moved as much as the conversation about the export of energy as we talked about before.
But yes, it is a very important topic, and it makes sense to change the floor, the minimum price so that a level of remuneration for the assets is established. It's a strength of the energy sector in Brazil, but some -- who generate this are not being paid for it. They are being actually penalized.
Our next question comes from Loni Mendes, an individual investor. Are there any news about green hydrogen? Is there anything?
We have been doing studies, and we are looking for partners in establishing partnerships already. Some of them are not public yet. Yes, exactly. There are some opportunities, and this is why, as you said, we are setting up an area within the company to develop these projects. However, hydrogen will not be a reality in the short term. Some projects may move forward a bit faster, but we are investors in the long term. So we are thinking about that in the long term. We have to be well positioned. We have to have the structured team, a trained team to develop projects that will generate value.
We have many questions. And we are going to send them to the IR team. Ms. Sasi from UBS, will ENGIE participate in the next reserve auction?
Yes, Julian, there is an interest. ENGIE mostly participates thinking in terms of the existing Salto Santiago and Jaguara. There are 2 wells there, 1,000 megawatts of installed capacity. That's not the only way to monetize this. We want to have safety in terms of the supply. But obviously, the auction next year will be an opportunity for us to watch. We have started studies, pricing, to get ready for the auction. There are other forms of participating in the auction, but our main cost is the hydro power plants.
The next question is from Mr. Machado, an individual investor. He asks, what are the strategies for the retailer, or the retail seller to meet the needs of the market?
The opening of the market is not only essential, it is fundamental. It is the most efficient way to contain the subsidies given to GD, and to mop up the excess energy that we see today and to create value for the end consumer, who has no access to energy nowadays. It is a fair way. Opening the market is essential to give space for us all to benefit from the low price of energy. Today, only the wholesalers find these prices. So opening the market is a very intelligent and cost-effective way to bring efficiency to the country. ENGIE has been preparing for this even before the opening of the market for high voltage had been announced.
We had changed our internal structure processes, teams to reduce transaction costs to automate, to simplify contracts, so as to reduce the perceived cost and be more efficient. ENGIE is not going to start acting now in view of the opening of the market. We have been preparing for it, where we have a different communication channel different marketing plan, which is more visual and clearer for consumers. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have been preparing for a long time and a lot has been done inside the company to prepare us for that.
This has proven effective as we saw an increase in the number of consumers.
We have to open the market urgently.
We have many other questions. But because of the time, we are going to answer them from our different channels. I now would like to give the floor over to Rafael and Takamori.
Just to reinforce, our IR team is available to answer any questions you might have in addition to the questions that were made today and others that may come to the site. Takamori the floor is yours.
It was a pleasure to participate officially after I was appointed as CFO. It's always a pleasure. It's wonderful to be able to interact with you all. The level of questions was wonderful. It is very enriching. We are going to answer the questions that we have not been able to answer today, and let's cross our fingers so that in the next quarter, there won't be unexpected events that disrupt the results. There are issues related to noncash, nonrecurring. They prevent us from showing the excellent results and the excellent performance we had in the quarter. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
This video conference is now ended. Thank you all for participating, and have a good afternoon.