ACCIONA wins contract to build Fortaleza metro in Brazil

ACCIONA, a global leader in renewable energy, infrastructure and water services, in partnership with  the Brazilian engineering firm Cetenco Engenharia, has been awarded a R$2.3bn (US$1bn, €800m) contract to build the East Line of the Fortaleza Metro in Brazil.

The consortium won an international public works tender to build a 12.4km subway with twelve stations that will carry 400,000 people a day when completed.

The new metro line will link up with Fortaleza's West and South lines and is expected to relieve traffic congestion in Brazil's fifth largest city. It is the largest public works project ever undertaken by the state of Ceará. 

As part of the contract, the consortium will also assemble four tunnel boring machines, nicknamed "tatuzões" (giant armadillos) - that have been acquired by the government of Ceará for the execution of the project.

Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará, has a population of 3.6m and is an important tourist destination in the northeast of Brazil. The city's new metro line forms part of the Federal Government's plan to improve urban mobility. As a result, Fortaleza's new metro line will be partly financed with federal government funds.

Brazil is accelerating investment in infrastructure as it prepares to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. The federal government's ambitious plans call for a doubling of the country's road and rail networks, better public transport networks for Brazil's largest cities, as well as an expansion of capacity in ports and airports.

A strategic country for ACCIONA

ACCIONA, through its infrastructure division ACCIONA Infraestructuras, is helping to build Brazil's new infrastructure with four key projects: the Rodoanel ringroad in São Paulo, the breakwaters of the Porto do Açú, the largest private port project in Latin America, which is under construction in the state of Rio de Janeiro, the BR393 highway, also in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and the Linha Leste metro line in Fortaleza.

Brazil is a strategic country for ACCIONA. The company has been present in the country since 1996 and has carried out landmark engineering, construction, renovation and industrial installation works.

ACCIONA recently built Santander bank's data control centre for Latin America at a 89,000 square metre site near Campinas, in the state of São Paulo. ACCIONA also built and operates a 200km section of the BR393 highway in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

ACCIONA's renewable energy and water services divisions are also active in Brazil through affiliates ACCIONA Windpower and ACCIONA Agua. ACCIONA Windpower is building a wind turbine assembly plant in Bahía and has signed supply contracts with a number of Brazilian wind farm developers.