Brazil

The U.S. President’s proclamation provides a path for specific products to apply for exemption from tariffs, which had been sought by both SunPower and the government of South Korea. Additionally, imports from a number of developing nations are exempt as long as import levels remain small.

Overall, the Brazilian government has pre-qualified biomass, wind, solar and hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 48.7 GW.

The feasibility study for the 1.7 GW Green Silicon project was conducted by Germany’s Fraunhofer IPA, Fraunhofer ISE, Viridis-iq and ZSW in 2015. The project is being developed by the local hydropower producer, Itaipú in partnership with the industry trade association of the Brazilian state of Paraná, and with the support of German industry association, Solar Cluster Baden-Württemberg.

Almost 85% of the country’s installed capacity, which is sitting at around 1.1 GW, is represented by large-scale solar plants contracted by the Brazilian government in energy auctions that were held between 2014 and 2015.

The development banks of Brazil and Germany will jointly support, among other things, solar, wind, mini-hydro and biomass power projetcs.

Leading module manufacturer, Canadian Solar has been awarded a 112 MW project in Brazil, after the country allocated around 574 MW of PV in its recent A-4 power auction.

In this interview Mark Widmar talks about the market for PV modules and his company’s supply situation, First Solar’s position in the Section 201 case, and the role he sees for solar in the future of energy.

Prodiel will begin construction on the 162 MW PV plant, developed by Norway’s Scatec Solar and Statoil, “imminently”. The US$215 million project is expected to be operational in Q4 2018.