components. The EPC is a “turn-key” contract, for a lump sum of R$ 3,405,379, which was performed in three different currencies: R$ 970,286, equivalent to EUR € 214,168; R$ 1,118,093 equivalent to USD 277,394 and R$ 1,317,000, covering all direct and indirect costs incurred by the EPC contractor, its subcontractors or suppliers, when delivering the contracted work.
Construction of the Plant began in November 2016 and CELSE was undergoing operational commissioning as of December 31, 2019. In this stage, initial startup and synchronization testing is performed on the turbine-generator sets and auxiliary systems, in which commissioning teams start and connect the newly built and assembled equipment to the national grid for the first time.
Project financing
In 2018 the Company concluded financing contracts under which the full amount of debentures, in the total amount of R$ 3,370,000 was funded. The project financing, of R$ 5 billion, is structured as follows: R$ 3.4 billion has been raised through the issuance by CELSE of nonconvertible, ordinary debentures secured by Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV) and with Goldman Sachs Brasil as lead arranger.
In addition, the project raised R$ 804 million (equivalent to US$ 200 million) from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank Group member for private-sector investments, and R$ 1,018 million (equivalent to US$ 288 million) from IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The financing was obtained after the Company received all environmental licenses required at the current stage of the project, the most recent of which, for the Offshore portion, was secured from IBAMA on March 28, 2018.
Floating storage and regasification unit (FRSU)
The Golar Nanook, a newly constructed floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), approached the coast of Sergipe on March 17, 2019 and berthed at the port of Sergipe on April 1, 2019. The arrival of the vessel was an important milestone in the CELSE thermal power station project. The FSRU has a storage capacity of 163,000 m3 of LNG and a regasification capacity of 21 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.
All environmental and regulatory licenses and permits have been timely secured, and there are currently no contingencies.
Commercial operation
On January 1, 2020 the Company failed to initiate commercial operation as agreed in its regulated- environment Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and required under the rules of the 21st New Power Generation Project Auction.
Among the contributing factors to the Company’s failure to timely initiate commercial operation are the following (i) multiple strikes during the course of 2018, especially the customs strike, which significantly affected plant construction; and (ii) delayed delivery of the offshore component of the project due to poor performance by the relevant contractor, delaying the availability of gas for commissioning.
In the second half of 2019, to meet its contractual obligation of the PPA, which required the availability of 867 Megawatt per minute (MWm) per month, during the first three months of 2020. CELSE, following the Resolution 595/2013 of the National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL), which establishes criteria for contracting electricity in the event of a delay in the start of commercial operation, entered into energy purchase agreements with Centrais Elétricas de Pernambuco (EPESA). Therefore, for January, February and March 2020, CELSE purchased an average of 867 MWm of electricity per month, delivering the necessary amount to comply with its contractual obligation with the 26 distributors, for an average price of R$ 287 per MW, totaling an amount of R$547,189. As determined in the PPA, the effective delivery of energy when not required by the operator of the national electricity system is valued at market price on the date of the effective transaction, as the energy purchase and sale transactions were closed at the same date and following the spot price at the date of each transaction, the Company had no material impact as a result of these transactions.
As at December 31, 2019 the project was in a final stage of commissioning. The commercial operation started on April 1, 2020 (for further detail please refer to note 25) and based on the PPAs, CELSE’s revenues for