In Pirapora, Brazil is really turning to solar energy
AFP 10 / 11 / 2017
The largest photovoltaic power plant in Latin America, 9 November 2017 in Pirapora, Brazil (AFP / CARL DE SOUZA)
Solar panels as far as the eye can see, on a vast expanse like more than 1.200 football fields, Pirapora, the largest photovoltaic power plant in Latin America, must allow Brazil to catch up in the solar energy.
The commissioning of the project operated by EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN) took place at the beginning of September and the second of the three phases of the project started to produce electricity on Thursday.
When the whole will be operational, towards the end of the first semester 2018, the complex will have an installed capacity of 400 MW, enough to supply electricity to 420.000 homes for a year.
"This is an emblematic project, of exceptional size, on a site that has the advantage of being flat, with low vegetation and strong sunlight, near a very high voltage connection", explains Paulo Abranches, CEO of EDF-EN Brazil.
The site of 800 hectares is isolated in a plain 350 km north of Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais (southeast), in the heart of a sparse vegetation, burned by the sun.
To visit it, you have to wear a kind of gaiters that look like soccer tybia, to avoid snake or spider bites.
Positioned at 1,20 meter of the ground, the panels are inclined and pivot following the movements of the sun, under the action of a device itself powered by solar energy. At noon, they are practically horizontal, when the sun is at its zenith.
If the sky is cloudy, production continues, even if it is 30% lower.
- Local manufacture -
EDF EN owns 80% shares of the photovoltaic park of Pirapora, whose total investment is estimated at more than 2 billion reais (about 520 million euros).
The remaining 20% is held by Canadian Solar, one of the industry leaders, responsible for manufacturing the approximately 1,2 million photovoltaic panels in the complex at a plant in the state of Sao Paulo (southeast).
Local manufacturing which has a cost, "30 to 40% higher" than if these panels were imported from China, recognizes Paulo Abranches.
But this was the sine qua non for Pirapora to become the first such facility to receive a loan from BNDES, Brazil's state-owned development bank.
Financing up to 529 million reais for the first phase, about half of the investment made at this stage of the project.
For Marcos Cardoso, head of the energy sector at the BNDES, investing in solar energy "is a maximum priority" so that Brazil keeps its commitments made during the Paris agreements: bring the renewable share of total production to 45% energy by 2030.
- '15 years late' -
For the moment, the solar share amounts to only 0,2% of the country's electricity production, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Energy, dating from August.
"Brazil is only beginning to catch up with the 15-year delay in this area," said Rodrigo Sauaia, president of the Brazilian Solar Energy Association (ABSOLAR), which represents the sector.
"We are living in a pivotal year, with the commissioning of the first large solar power plants. The installed capacity, which stood at less than 90 MW in January, should reach 1 Gigawatt by the end of the year , not counting 2 other GWs in the construction phase ".
An expansion facilitated by a sharp drop in solar panel costs, the price of which has been practically halved over the past decade.
"The fact that this is the first project to use locally produced photovoltaic modules contributes to the development of these technologies in Brazil," said Sauaia.
Despite these advances, much remains to be done. "The amount of sunshine is much higher than that of a country like Germany, for example, which is much more advanced," notes Mauro Lerer, engineer at Solarize, a company that provides training courses in solar energy in Rio de Janeiro. .
He points to a "lack of interest from the government, which continues to rely heavily on oil" and does not offer tax incentives to investors in solar.
"Taxes should be cut to stimulate investment. Many people would like to go solar, including individuals, but cannot afford it," he said.
However, as underlined by Bruno Fyot, Deputy Managing Director of EDF EN, "in Brazil, there is good wind and sunshine", and "the growth in demand for electricity is important in the long term".
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