Brazil passes 9 GW of PV capacity

Brazil has installed 1 GW of new PV capacity in the past month alone. The distributed-generation solar segment and bilateral PPAs for large-scale PV plants are driving the market.

Image: Designelo, pixabay

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From pv magazine LatAm

ABSOLAR, a PV industry association in Brazil, reported this week that the country has added another gigawatt of solar over the past two months, pushing it past the 9 GW mark for cumulative operational PV capacity.

Strong growth in the distributed-generation PV segment is driving the market, along with a growing number of bilateral power purchase agreements (PPAs) for large-scale solar plants.

Separately, Brazil-based consultancy Greeener said in a new report that PV module demand hit 4,950 MW in Brazil last year.

The Brazilian government supports distributed generation through Convention 16/15 (Convenio ICMS 16/2015). It exempts the owners of solar systems up to 1 MW in size from paying the ICMS state sales tax, under a net metering regime open to projects no larger than 5 MW.

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There are currently about 13.38 GW of unsubsidized solar power projects in advanced stages of development, with permits to start commercial operations.

“It is interesting to note that, in this project pipeline, there are at least 8.4 GW of projects that have also secured a power purchase agreement,” Greener CEO Marcio Takata told pv magazine in April.

Just five projects with capacities ranging from 600 MW to 1 GW account for around 3.6 GW of all capacity under signed PPAs in Brazil.

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