Brazil solar energy generation breaks 3 records in single day – ONS

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The first record was set in the National Interconnected System (SIN), with an instantaneous generation peak of 3,626 megawatts (MW), at 10:52 AM. This amount of energy represents 4.7% of Brazil’s demand, surpassing the mark registered on September 19, when 3,574 MW were generated at 11:16 AM.

Also in the morning, instantaneous solar generation in the Northeast reached 2,624 MW at 10:52 AM, enough to meet 21.4% of the load in the region. Then at 12:08 PM, in the Southeast/Midwest, another unprecedented mark for instantaneous photovoltaic generation was registered, a production of 1,056 MW, representing 2.4% of the subsystem’s demand.

Currently, solar energy production for the electric matrix in Brazil’s Northeast region represents 2.1% of the total, and the National System Operator (ONS) expects it to reach 2.6% by year-end. The previous record for solar generation had been registered at 11:57 AM on August 26, when the peak reached 2,336 MW, enough to meet 20.5% of the region’s demand at the minute of the day.

Also on Tuesday, Enel X, the energy solutions company of the Enel Group – which operates in Brazil in electricity generation and distribution – signed a contract with Bradesco bank for the development and construction of 9 photovoltaic plants for distributed generation in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Ceará and Goiás.

The units are being set up in the municipalities of Quixeré, in Ceará; Buriti Alegre, in Goiás; and Seropédica and Campos dos Goytacazes, in Rio de Janeiro. In all, there will be 18,550 solar panels spread over a total area of more than 240,000 m². The facilities are expected to start operating in June 2022.

Until 2012, the sector had only 7 MW installed. In August this year, it surpassed the historic mark of 10,000 MW in developments, 65% of which are distributed solar generation projects, involving small and medium-sized systems installed on rooftops, facades, and on vacant land. Meanwhile, centralized industrial parks account for 3.5 gigawatts (GW), 2% of the matrix.

ABOUT THE ONS:

The National Electric System Operator (ONS) is in charge of coordinating and controlling the operation of electric power generation and transmission facilities in the National Interconnected System (SIN) and planning the operation of Brazil’s isolated systems, under the supervision and regulation of the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL).