Brazil to account for 50% of renewable energy growth in Latin America in 10 years, says Enel

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “Brazil should grow in importance within the renewable generation portfolio of Italian group Enel,” said on April 14, the company’s global president, Francesco Starace, who pointed to the prospect of accelerating investments in solar and wind projects in the future. “If you take a picture today, Brazil is underrepresented; if you take a picture 10 years from now, Brazil will be much bigger than today,” said the executive during an event promoted by the group in São Paulo.

According to the executive, Brazil already accounts for about 40% of the group’s growth in renewables in Latin America, considering the current business plan (2022-2024). However, in 10 years, the perspective is that the country will account for more than 50% alone.

According to Starace, this view is related to the fact that some countries will reach physical limits that will lead to a slowdown in growth, while in Brazil, the perspective is for acceleration, given the geographical size of the country and the growing need for energy, due to population growth and the Brazilian economy. “Not many countries have these two conditions,” he said. “Population growth means growth now and growth for the next 25 years.”

Over the next three years, the company plans to add 3,000 MW in the country. “It’s a lot more than we did in the past, but it’s going to be a lot more in the three years ahead because the acceleration is ongoing, and don’t be surprised because the potential is huge; the country is super-rich: it has a lot of wind, a lot of space and a lot of solar radiation,” Starace said.

Currently, through Enel Green Power Brasil, its renewable generation arm, the group operates in the country more than 4.7 GW of renewable energy, of which 2.1 GW are wind, 1.2 GW solar, and 1.3 GW from hydro sources, as well as a combined cycle thermal plant (gas and steam) with 326.6 MW of installed capacity, in the state of Ceará.

NETWORKS

Besides investments in renewables, Enel also plans to invest in its distribution networks in the country, with an eye on the electrification trend of the economy, which will require strengthening and digitalizing the systems. “In our industry, grids have always been considered the least interesting business, not as sexy, not really smart, which is a shame because electricity will decarbonize the economy, and how does electricity get to people? Through the grids. So the grids become super important to make sure that this happens safely and reliably,” he justified.

According to Starace, energy consumption in São Paulo – one of the locations served by the company – is one of the highest in the world. However, it is still small compared to what it will be in the future, with the conversion of the vehicle fleet to electric vehicles, for example. “We have to invest much more than we imagined ten years ago,” he said.

Besides operating the distributor that serves the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Enel owns three other distributors in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Ceará, and Goiás, serving a total of approximately 18 million customers.

In its most recent investment plan, disclosed in November last year, Enel informed the forecast to invest about €5 billion (US$5.4 billion) in the country until 2024. Brazil alone accounts for about 50% of the company’s investments in Latin America planned for the next three years, but the trend is that it will account for growing shares, reaching 60% or 70% in the future, said Starace.

With information from Estadão