RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Solar source has attracted over R$60 (US$11) billion in new investments in Brazil since 2012, according to the industry association.
“Large-scale solar plants generate electricity at prices up to 10 times lower than emergency fossil thermoelectric plants or electricity currently imported from neighboring countries, two of the main culprits of tariff increases on consumers,” ABSOLAR chairman Rodrigo Sauaia said.
Since 2012, solar generation has prevented the emission of 13.6 million tons of CO2 in electricity generation.
The source represents only 2% of the Brazilian electricity matrix, but the forecast is for growth in the coming years in Brazil and worldwide, and may become the main energy generator by 2050.
In the case of distributed generation, there was a 53% increase from January through November this year.
Sauaia pointed out that in addition to helping reduce the electricity bill, solar energy can be installed more quickly than other sources. “One day to install it is enough to transform a home or business into a small plant that generates clean, renewable, and affordable electricity. For a large solar plant, it takes less than 18 months from the auction to the start of electricity generation,” he said.
Brazil has 4.5 GW of installed capacity in large solar plants, equivalent to 2.4% of the country’s electricity matrix. Since 2012, large solar plants have attracted more than R$23.5 billion in new investments and generated over 135,000 jobs, in addition to providing R$6.3 billion in revenue for public coffers.
Currently, large solar plants are Brazil’s 6th largest generation source, with projects operating in 9 states in 3 regions: the Northeast (Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, and Rio Grande do Norte); Southeast (Minas Gerais and São Paulo); and Midwest (Tocantins).
In the self-generation segment there are 7.5 GW of solar installed capacity. This is equivalent to more than R$37.1 billion in investments and R$9.4 billion in accumulated revenue since 2012, spread over the Brazil’s 5 regions.
Solar technology is currently used in 99.9% of all self-generation connections in the country.