Interview: Solar is paving its own road in Brazil, regardless of politics and economy
In an interview with pv magazine at this year’s Intersolar SA in Sao Paulo, Rodrigo Sauaia, president of Brazilian solar association, ABSSOLAR discussed the current issues and opportunities in Brazil’s PV market. The association is calling on the Brazilian Government to contract up to 2 GW of solar power in future auctions, and to maintain current rules for DG. The private PPA segment, meanwhile, which only a year ago appeared unviable, has begun to show positive results. All in all, solar in Brazil is growing, despite the hurdles created by a difficult political and economical environment.
Brazil: more plans for big solar parks unveiled
Brazilian conglomerate Grupo Rio Alto is planning to deploy another 210 MW of solar plants in the state of Paraiba, while Korean company KSB is discussing a $1.5 billion solar project with the authorities of Campo Grande, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
Brazil’s PV capacity tops 1.6 GW
At the end of June 2018, according to official statistics, large-scale solar capacity reached 1,307 MW, while the share of distributed PV generation (up to 5 MW), was 296 MW. Of the total capacity, 1.36 GW was connected to the grid in the last 12 months.
Hanergy is back on the expansion trail with plans for Brazil fab
The thin-film specialist has met representatives of the municipality of Uberaba, in the west of the state of Minas Gerais, to discuss project details. Planned investment may reach $1 billion as the Chinese manufacturer, like its peers, targets overseas markets.
Omega Geração acquires 50% of 312 MW Pirapora solar complex in Brazil
Canadian Solar and EDF will maintain a stake of 30% and 20%, respectively, in the solar plant. The value of the transaction is estimated at BRL 1.1 billion (US$283.6 million).
Brazil’s Cemig to hold second wind, solar auction
Although the volume has not been disclosed, selected projects in this new auction will have to start delivering power by January 2022. In the first auction of this kind, held in June, the Brazilian power provider contracted 431.4 MW of wind and solar power.
Solar distributed generation sees strong growth in Brazil
According to a new report published by consultancy Greener, the price of DG systems keeps falling in Brazil and total installed capacity has surpassed 308 MW. In the first half of the year, newly installed capacity was around 126 MW – more than the country installed in all of last year.
LatAm PV markets see increasing use of green bonds
Colombia’s Celsia is issuing green bonds worth US$145 million to finance its large solar PV project pipeline, while U.K.-based Faro Energy is resorting to clean energy bonds to fund its distributed generation (DG) solar projects across Brazil.
Brazil now has 250 MW of solar under net metering
According to data from Brazilian association ABSOLAR, Brazil currently has 27,803 solar PV systems connected to the grid, which benefit 32,924 consumer units and total more than BRL 1.9 billion (around $515 million) in accumulated investments since 2012.
Brazil’s first solar-plus-storage power plant to come online
The plant, which consists of a 300 kW solar installation and a 1 MW storage system, was built by local power utility Cemig in partnership with Grupo Algar. The project is located in Uberlândia, in the state of Minas Gerais, which is the Brazilian region with the highest penetration of solar and renewables – and a grid that is in a urgent need of improvement.
