Suez, Santander fund to bid on Brazil Amazon dam

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 12 (Reuters) - French utility company Suez (LYOE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and a investment fund by Spanish bank Santander filed to bid for a major Brazilian hydroelectric power project in the Amazon region, the country's electricity regulator said on Monday.

Brazil's government estimates the Jirau project on the Madeira river in the Amazon will need some 8.7 billion reais ($5.23 billion) of investments. The government will auction a concession to build and operate the 3,300 megawatt dam on May 19.

Santander (SAN.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Portugal's Banif (BNF.LS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) formed an investment fund as part of a consortium with state power company Furnas, utility Cemig (CMIG4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and construction giants Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez.

Suez joined with Brazil's Eletrosul, part of federal power giant Eletrobras (ELET6.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), construction group Camargo Correa and state-controlled CHESF, or Companhia Hidro Eletrica to Sao Francisco to bid for the Jirau project, which is set to start operating in 2013. ($1 = 1.665 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Denise Luna, Writing by Elzio Barreto; editing by Carol Bishopric)