Brazil

New research shows that achieving universal electricity access in the Amazon region will require up to 15 million PV modules and more than $7.4 billion in investments.

As Brazil starts its low-carbon hydrogen program, industry consolidation continues with two M&A operations in Italy and Texas. 

The plant will be located in the reservoir of the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant. The tender is open until September 5, and the designated time period for the installation of the floating solar plant is about four months.

The company opened an inverter factory in the Manaus Free Trade Zone with a capacity of 1.8 GW, or 300,000 units per year. In the second phase, it plans to bring in the production of hybrid inverters and lithium batteries as well as chargers for electric vehicles and motors for electric boats. The company will have distribution centers in Curitiba and Fortaleza to ensure rapid delivery of equipment to the domestic market, with a minimum warranty of 10 years.

The rapid growth of renewable energy in Brazil has not been matched by transmission and distribution infrastructure. Connection restrictions for both “distributed-” and centralized-generation sites are leading companies to adopt new strategies to maintain expansion, reports pv magazine Brasil’s Livia Neves.

Despite global overcapacity, several factors may contribute to a slight increase in solar panel prices in Brazil, with shipping costs and quotas for fiscal exemptions on imported PV modules playing a key role.

The BRL 950 million ($175 million) São João do Paracatu solar park in Minas Gerais employs 500,000 solar modules distributed over an area of ​​509 hectares and counts clients in the areas of mining, magnesium industrialization and plastic production and recycling.

The Itaipu hydroelectric power plant could almost double its generation capacity if it were to install a large floating solar plant that would occupy only 10% of its 1,350-square-kilometer reservoir area, according to an estimate released by the energy consulting and analysis firm PSR. The installation of floating PV could be an alternative to the repowering of power plants, although it faces regulatory and operational constraints.

FRV is one of a number of companies that has already signed contracts with the Ceará government for the production of green hydrogen and its derivatives in the state. Its H2 Cumbuco project is set to expand to 2 GW of electrolyzer capacity in two phases. The project will use residual urban water treated by the local sanitation company.

Colombia, Brazil, and Chile lead the hydrogen market in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to new data presented by Hinicio and New Energy at the recent 4th Hydrogen Congress for Latin America and the Caribbean (H2LAC 2024).