Solar photovoltaic reaches 12 GW in Brazil, celebrates ABSOLAR

Since 2012, the solar PV sector brought more than BRL 60.6 billion in investments and generated more than 360 thousand new jobs.

Brazil just surpassed the historic milestone of 12 gigawatts (GW) of operational installed capacity from solar photovoltaic (PV), considering large power plants and small and medium-scale systems installed on rooftops, facades and plots of land.

According to ABSOLAR, the solar PV source brought more than BRL 60.6 billion in new investments to the country, BRL 15.7 billion in taxes collections to public coffers and has generated more than 360 thousand accumulated jobs since 2012. Therefore, the emission of 13.6 million tons of CO₂ was avoided in the electricity sector.

The ABSOLAR’s CEO, Rodrigo Sauaia, mentioned that the evolution of the solar PV energy in Brazil is fundamental to the social, economic and environmental development of the country. The solar energy promotes a diversification of the national electric matrix, reducing the pressure over the hydro resources and the electricity costs to the consumers.

“The large solar power plants generate electricity offering prices up to ten times lower when compared to the fossil source thermal plants or to the imported electricity from the neighboring countries, which are two of the main responsible for the increase in the energy costs”, said Sauaia.   

“Due to versatility and agility of the solar technology, one worked day can change a house or business building into a clean, renewable and accessible electricity generation unit. For the large solar power plants, the period considered between the project and the commercial operation date is less than 18 months. Thus, the solar power plants are recognized as the fastest among the new power plants”, added the CEO.

In centralized generation segment, Brazil has 4.5 GW installed capacity from solar PV power plants, which represents 2.4% of the country´s electricity matrix. From 2012, large solar power plants have brought to Brazil more than BRL 23.5 billion in new investments, BRL 6.3 billion in taxes collections to public coffers and has generated more than 135 thousand accumulated jobs.

Large solar power plants are currently the 6th largest power source in Brazil, with power plants in operation in nine Brazilian states, in the Northeastern (Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte), Southeastern (Minas Gerais and São Paulo) and Mid-West (Tocantins) regions.

In distributed generation segment, solar PV reached 7.5 GW installed capacity, bringing to Brazil more than BRL 37.1 billion in new investments and BRL 9.4 billion in taxes collections to public coffers since 2012 throughout the five national regions. Solar PV represents 99.9% of the number of distributed generation systems and leads the distributed generation segment by a wide margin.

Considering the generation provided by large power plants and distributed generation, the solar source holds the 5th position in the national electric matrix. The solar surpassed the power capacity of fossil fuels thermal generation plants, which represent 9.2 GW of the Brazilian electric matrix.

According to Ronaldo Koloszuk, chairman of ABSOLAR's Board of Administrators, the growth of the renewable energy sources, in special the solar PV, will strength the flexibility and security of the electricity supply in Brazil, in addition to being competitive and affordable, solar energy is quick to install and helps ease consumers' pockets, reducing their electricity costs by up to 90%. “Clean and competitive energy is essential to national economic recovery, as projected by the market analysts, creating new jobs, income and opportunities to the citizens”, he concludes.

About ABSOLAR

Founded in 2013, the Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association (ABSOLAR) gathers companies and professionals from the entire production chain of the solar photovoltaic sector acting in Brazil, both in the distributed generation and in the centralized generation areas. ABSOLAR coordinates, represents and defends the development of the solar photovoltaic energy sector and market in Brazil, promoting and spreading the use of this clean, renewable and sustainable energy in the country and representing the Brazilian photovoltaic sector internationally.