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Brazil Exceeds 22 GW Solar PV Capacity Milestone

Anu Bhambhani
  • Brazil's aggregate solar power capacity till early November 2022 increased to 22 GW, according to ABSOLAR
  • It comprises 15.03 GW of distributed generation and 7 GW utility scale solar power plants
  • ABSOLAR says there was an increase of 59.4% in the total solar capacity as it grew from 13.8 GW to 22 GW between January 2022 to early-November 2022

Brazilian solar energy association ABSOLAR announced on November 22, 2022 that the country had surpassed 7 GW of operational large scale solar power plant capacity, taking the country's cumulative to 22 GW, with distributed generation PV contributing 15.03 GW of installed power.

With 22 GW installed PV capacity, according to the association, it accounts for over 10% of the national electricity mix. The 15 GW milestone for distributed generation corresponds to over 98% of this segment's installed capacity in Brazil.

ABSOLAR was quoted by a local media portal exame.com as saying this 22 GW increased 59.4% from 13.8 GW, between January 2022 to early-November 2022 adding almost 1 GW per month.

It is a significant development pointing to over 2 GW installed since the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) pegged cumulative solar capacity of Brazil at 20 GW in early-October 2022, comprising 13.47 GW distributed and 6.52 GW utility scale solar (see Brazil Achieves 20 GW Solar PV Installations Milestone).

According to Aneel, the 15.03 GW capacity is sufficient to supply close to 9.5 million Brazilian homes. It believes state support in the form of incentives is responsible for this 'great success' that were essential to guarantee the expansion of this segment.