With 77 MWaverage contracted and more than R$908 million in planned investments, photovoltaic solar source is the most competitive among renewable sources, despite not having been the most contracted

The photovoltaic solar source was featured in the New Energy Auctions A-3 and A-4 of 2021 (LEN A-3 and LEN A-4 of 2021), held yesterday (07/08) by the Electric Energy Commercialization Chamber (CCEE ), in São Paulo (SP), with supply beginning in January 2024 and January 2025, respectively.

Starting from an initial price (ceiling) of R$198.00/MWh for the photovoltaic solar source in both events, the LEN A-3 was closed with an average sale price of R$125.53/MWh (discount of 36 .6%), while LEN A-4 had an average sales price of R$136.31/MWh (31.2% discount). As a result, the solar source had the lowest average prices for the two energy auctions.

In the assessment of the Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy (ABSOLAR), the contracting of energy from the photovoltaic solar source should have received higher priority, as it is the renewable source with the lowest prices in the country since 2019. “If the Federal Government had contracted twice as much energy from the solar source in these two auctions, reducing the energy purchased from more expensive sources, would have saved Brazilian consumers at least R$ 126.8 million over the next 20 years”, clarifies Rodrigo Sauaia, executive president of the entity

The solar projects contracted by LEN A-3 and A-4 from 2021 are located in the Northeast region, in the states of Paraíba (59.6 MWaverage) and Pernambuco (17.4 MWaverage). Seven new power plants from the source were purchased, totaling 77 average MW of physical guarantee, bringing in more than R$ 908 million in planned investments and the generation of more than 8 thousand jobs by 2025.

With the evolution of the photovoltaic solar source in Brazil, ABSOLAR has recommended to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and to the Energy Research Company (EPE) improvements in the planning of contracting the source in energy auctions and in the planning of generation expansion in the country.

“The photovoltaic solar source continues to fulfill its commitment to bring competitive electricity to auctions, helping to reduce the price of energy for consumers and Brazilian society. Today, once again, we demonstrate, in practice, the growing competitiveness of the source, for the benefit of the entire country. It is now up to the Federal Government to review the planning guidelines and expand the contracting of solar energy in the next auctions, including those that are already planned for the second half of 2021 and for the years 2022 and 2023. This will help to reduce the electricity prices that will be paid by Brazilians, easing the population's pockets and improving the competitiveness of the productive sectors”, emphasizes Márcio Trannin , vice president of the Board of Directors of ABSOLAR.