9.2 GW Of Solar PV Projects Accredited For Upcoming Energy Auction In Brazil

Originally published on CleanTechies.

Brazil is getting ready for its fourth renewable energy auction, and has received interest from a large number of solar energy project developers.

According to media reports, five states in Brazil have accredited more than 200 solar power projects with a combined capacity of more than 9.2 GW. Following the accreditation, the projects will become eligible for participation in the renewable energy auction scheduled for July 29th.

The auction will be the fourth in a series of auctions that started in 2014. During the first three auctions, about 2 GW of solar power capacity was selected.

In an auction held in November of 2015, just under 1 GW of solar power capacity was auctioned at an average price of US¢7.75/kWh, which was below the ceiling price. Similarly, in the solar-only auction held in August of 2015, the auction of 800 MW of capacity was at US¢8.42/kWh.

The tariff bids were very similar to the bids seen in the Indian solar power market, where several recent auctions yielded bids of around US¢7.00/kWh. It will be interesting to see if bids in the July auction fall further. A total of 133 hydro power projects with a combined generation capacity of 985 MW have also been accredited for the July auction.

A few months back, the Brazilian government doubled its solar power capacity addition target for 2024. Under the 10-year Energy Plan for 2024, the government announced a target of 7 GW of utility-scale and 1.32 GW of distributed solar power capacity.

Reprinted with permission.