The State Grid Corp. of China has been awarded a contract to build and operate a second transmission line as part of Brazil's massive Belo Monte hydroelectric power complex.

The US$2.2 billion line will be an 800kV, 2,550-kilometer-long link -- the country's longest -- that will run from the 11.2-GW Belo Monte in north Brazil to Rio de Janeiro in the southeast. The deal also includes the construction of two new substations.