Another Brazilian state introduces ICMS exemption for solar

The government of the Brazilian state of Espíritu Santo announced it will ratify the Convention 16/15 (Convenio ICMS 16/2015). The regulation, introduced by Brazil’s central government in 2015, exempts solar power producers from paying ICMS, the Brazilian state sales tax, under net metering.

According to the Brazilian solar association ABSOLAR, the official announcement will be made by the state’s governor Paulo Hartung at a conference organized by Brazil’s National Finance Policy Council (CONFAZ), on December 15.

ABSOLAR said the ratification of the measure was the result of several years of negotiations with the local Department of Finance and Economic Development; an effort which was backed by the state’s solar organization Pró Energia Solar ES.

The number of states that have now agreed to the exemption of the value-added tax for solar prosumers has increased to 23, with only three states left still to join the initiative: Amazonas, Paraná and Santa Catarina.

Furthermore, several Brazilian states have introduced the exemption of the ICMS tax for both solar electricity and solar equipment.

The size limit of a project under Brazil’s net metering scheme was recently expanded from 1 MW to 5 MW. The 1 MW limitation, however, remained for the ICMS exemption.