Brazilian tender awards tiny portion of wind and solar on offer

Brazilian energy regulator Aneel has awarded power contracts for nearly 1GW of renewable energy projects across two energy auctions – the country’s first since 2019, and the first since the coronavirus pandemic started.

However, the 984.7MW of wind, hydro, solar and biomass projects awarded 20- and 30-year contracts represents just a fraction of the roughly 66GW of capacity registered for the tenders, indicating a lack of demand for power in Brazil’s coronavirus-hit economy.

Wind secured more capacity than any other power source in each tender — 419.5MW across the two auctions – and developers committed more investment for wind projects — a combined BRL 1.75 billion ($333.5 million) — than any other power source.

In the A-3 auction, in which developers have three years to commission their projects, 23 wind farms in Bahia and Rio Grande do Norte with a combined capacity of 251.7MW were successful. Developers have pledged to invest BRL 1.02 billion to deliver their projects.

Projects are due online by January 2024.

Meanwhile, in the A-4 auction, in which developers have four years to commission their projects, 10 wind farms in Bahia and Rio Grande do Norte totalling 167.8MW were successful.

Projects are due online by January 2025.

The auctions were intended to meet the demand of the distributors’ market, according to Aneel. Developers had registered 66GW of projects ahead of the tenders.