ANEEL says solar energy now accounts for 5.27% of Brazil’s national power mix; Colbún signs corporate RE PPA with copper miner in Chile; Soltec bags 182 MW tracker order for Brazil; Tongwei signs 150 MW distributorship agreement in Mexico.
Brazil achieves solar capacity milestone: The National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) of Brazil says on August 31, 2023 the country’s total installed centralized solar projects capacity reached 10.4 GW. It includes 744.7 MW installed in the month of August alone. Minas Gerais leads the states tally with 101 projects and 3.6 GW large-scale solar, followed by 2.1 GW in Bahia and 1.5 GW in Piaui. Solar energy now accounts for 5.27% of the nation’s cumulative power generation capacity of 195.6 GW.
ANEEL says distributed micro and mini generation solar PV capacity has also grown to an aggregate 23.5 GW. São Paulo leads with 3.2 GW, Minas Gerais with 3.1 GW and Rio Grande do Sul with 2.4 GW. Within 8M/2023, the country installed 446.9 thousand new PV systems with a cumulative 5.3 GW capacity.
Miner goes for RE in Chile: Chilean energy company Colbún has announced a 100% renewable energy supply contract with copper miner Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi in the country. The agreement is for the supply of up to 650 GWh/year from Colbún’s facilities for 12 years. The power purchase agreement (PPA) will come into force in January 2024. The contract with Colbún will govern from January 2024 to December 2035. The first period (2024-2025) corresponds to an agreement for 230 GWh; the second (2026-2035), one for 650 GWh, which will be supplied both by renewable projects already under construction and by new ones to be built. It will enable the mining company to ensure the continuity of 100% certified renewable supply throughout its operation.
Soltec is supplying its SFOne trackers to Solatio’s projects in Brazil. (Photo Credit: Soltec)
182 MW solar deal for Soltec: Spain’s Soltec has landed a deal to supply 182 MW of its SFOne solar trackers for multiple projects in Brazil. The Solatio-owned facilities will deploy 2,816 trackers installed in a 1-in-portrait configuration along with 326,656 modules. The agreement includes 4 solar plants in Minas Gerais. Soltec said this agreement expands its total capacity in Brazil to exceed 5 GW.
Chinese modules for Mexican projects: China’s Tongwei Solar has signed a framework agreement with the Mexican branch of energy distributor Amara Nzero. Tongwei will supply the latter with its high efficiency 150 MW modules for the Latin American market. Tongwei said Amara Nzero is one of the top 3 local distributors in Mexico and has significant market presence in Colombia, Panama and Dominican Republic among other countries in the continent. In the future, the duo plans to explore more opportunities to expand the partnership.
