In yet another demonstration of the advance of renewable sources of electricity in Brazil, the country surpassed, this Thursday (26/5), the 5 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity in solar photovoltaic plants with centralized generation, that is, generators that received concession from the Federal Government and that are connected to the National Interconnected System (SIN).

The National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL), linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, identified that the 5 GW mark had been exceeded with the release for commercial operation of 152 generating units of the Photovoltaic Plant (UFV) Coremas VII, in the municipality of Coremas ( PB), totaling 27 megawatts (MW).

Unlike those of micro and mini distributed generation installed in homes and small parks, centralized solar plants are characterized as large generation parks aimed at the commercialization of energy within the scope of the Electric Energy Commercialization Chamber (CCEE), either in the regulated market or in the free market.

Among the states with the highest installed capacity from centralized solar plants, Bahia stands out, with 1.35 GW, Piauí, with 1.16 GW, and Minas Gerais, with 730 MW.

Until 2017, photovoltaic solar plants did not participate in Brazil's electricity matrix. According to Aneel, the rapid rise observed in the last five years should continue at an accelerated pace. At the moment, projects with approximately 4.7 GW of capacity are under construction, expected to start operating between 2022 and 2023. Other solar plants granted by ANEEL and in the process of being built have almost 51 GW of power granted.

Micro and mini-generation approach 11 GW 

In addition to the 5 GW of centralized solar generation, Brazil has 10.74 GW of installed power in distributed micro and mini-generation units. Approximately 1.3 million consumers use credits for energy generated by 1.01 million micro and mini-generation units. See more in this interactive panel by Aneel.

More information about the expansion of electricity generation in Brazil, distributed generation and the country's electricity matrix are available here.