Brazil Doubles 2024 Solar Power Target

Originally published on Sustainnovate.
By Henry Lindon

Brazil’s new 2024 solar energy targets are roughly double those of the earlier plan for 2023, according to recent reports. The new targets from the country’s government call for 7 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar and 1.32 GW of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity.

The new 10-year Energy Plan for 2024 raised the target for utility-scale solar PV generation capacity to 7 GW, up from 3.5 GW; and the target for distributed solar capacity to 1.319 GW, up from 664 megawatts (MW).

Early reports are that the next 10-year Energy Plan — to be created this year — will reveal notably higher targets for distributed solar PV generation capacity; primarily as a result of the government’s new incentive program for distributed solar PV.

The new plan — detailed in a new report titled “Solar Energy For Brazil & The World” (translated of course) — was punished by the country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy in December.

Brazil currently (as of the end of 2015) only possesses 32 MW of grid-connected solar PV generation capacity, so the new target of 7 GW (7000 MW) represents a possible huge jump in capacity. The biggest solar PV plants in the country currently are the Fontes I and II installations — which only feature nameplate generation capacities of 5 MW each.

The country is currently expected to possess over 3 GW of solar PV generation capacity by the year 2018 — owing to contracts that were awarded via recent national electricity supply auctions.

Image by Rafael Acorsi (some rights reserved)