State-owned Power Construction Corp. of China Ltd (PowerChina) says it has secured the engineering, procurement and construction contract for a waste-to-energy power station at Barueri in southern Brazil, the first in South America.

The facility will occupy 37,237 square metres and have an installed capacity of 19.1 megawatts, burning 870 tonnes of rubbish a day, PowerChina announced in writing on Monday.

The contract was the only waste-to-energy contract won at the auction held by the Brazilian electricity regulator last September 30, the company says.

It says it now has a first-mover advantage in the South American market for generating electricity from municipal solid waste.

A subsidiary, SEPCO1 Electric Power Construction Co. Ltd, will bring to Brazil its advanced technology for incinerating and decontaminating solid waste, PowerChina says.