Solar energy is predicted to grow to be the primary supply of power in Brazil, offering alternatives for funding and improvement, if accompanied by satisfactory insurance policies and incentives.
Rodrigo Sauaia, president of the photo voltaic affiliation Absolar, spoke to BNamericas about what is required and the place the sector is headed.
BNamericas: What are these sector expectations for 2023?
Be part of: Our Absolar projections present that we are going to see an growth of 10.1GW of photovoltaic photo voltaic power, which suggests we are going to attain 34GW of put in operational energy by the top of the yr.
This improvement represents a complete funding of 50bn reais (US$9.4bn) and the creation of 300,000 jobs.
BNamericas: What explains this growth?
Be part of: A number of necessary elements occurred.
Within the final decade, we’ve got noticed a technological evolution within the photo voltaic power sector and this has resulted in a rise in effectivity and a lower in gentleness value. This represents a value discount for the ultimate client. Within the final decade, the worth of photo voltaic power has decreased by 86%, and it has grow to be extra reasonably priced power supply.
This truth has already occurred in different international locations. In international locations that focus 60% of the world’s inhabitants, we are able to already see that the price of photo voltaic power is cheaper than thermoelectric, coal and wind power.
As well as, lately the electrical energy costs have elevated in Brazil, even above inflation, was vastly influenced by the water disaster, which pressured the nation to activate thermoelectric vegetation, which elevated the costs of the speed flags.
One other benefit of photo voltaic power is that the set up time may be very brief. It’s doable to put in a photo voltaic system on the roof in simply someday. A big photo voltaic plant takes 18 months to put in, which is much less time than it takes to construct a thermoelectric and even nuclear energy plant, to not point out that it requires much less upkeep. .
BNamericas: Do the emission discount targets of corporations from completely different sectors additionally profit from photo voltaic power initiatives?
Be part of: The sustainability issue is necessary. The eye of society and buyers to endurance the problems are growing. Massive corporations have sustainability targets and must generate power from renewable sources.
BNamericas: How will the expiration of economic incentives for photo voltaic customers on January 6 have an effect on the sector?
Be part of: For individuals who need to generate their very own photo voltaic power, the know-how stays engaging and constructive, even after January 6, when the brand new guidelines of the authorized framework for the technology of renewable power have begun.
This authorized framework creates predictability and continuity for the sector, because it permits a easy transition in relation to the price of the electrical energy sector. We should keep in mind that this price challenge solely impacts customers who share the surplus power generated by the grid and never self-consumption.
If we have a look at the payback interval for the funding, we see that the benefits stay unchanged.
BNamericas: How the brand new authorities can contribute sector growth?
Be part of: In reality, to succeed in these projected numbers, we’d like good public insurance policies, good authorities applications and good incentives to maneuver ahead.
Presently, Brazil practices a contradiction, as a result of public insurance policies within the power sector profit extra fossil fuels than renewable sources.
Given what we’ve got seen from the speeches of this new authorities, which mentioned in its first days that it intends to prioritize the power transition, we would like these speeches to be reworked into apply. This can be a level that the federal government ought to take an in depth have a look at with the intention to speed up the power transition and make Brazil a world chief on this course of.
Along with the federal authorities, we’d like applicable actions and applications in cities and states that encourage photo voltaic power. Some states and municipalities have already executed this, such because the Goais Photo voltaic program, Palmas Photo voltaic program and Salvador Program, however these actions are nonetheless remoted, we’d like a wider improvement in relation to renewable power in native governments.
BNamericas: Are different public insurance policies wanted for the sector?
Be part of: We have to work on entry to financing. It’s obligatory to determine public insurance policies that supply financing for the ultimate client.
We even have a second concerning the tools utilized in photo voltaic power initiatives. Now we have the chance to strengthen the trade of native suppliers, however we have to develop a nationwide coverage and legal guidelines geared toward this industrialization.
At the moment we’ve got about 30 corporations in Brazil that produce tools and elements for the photo voltaic sector, however nonetheless, many of the tools used within the initiatives is imported.
BNamericas: How has excessive rates of interest affected the sector?
Be part of: The state of affairs of excessive rates of interest was and stays a problem in 2023. Consequently, improvement banks equivalent to BNDES, Banco do Nordeste and Banco da Amazônia can be extra necessary and promoters of improvement.
We have to improve the quantity of financing via these banks for initiatives within the sector, as a result of we are able to appeal to extra investments and create extra jobs and earnings for various areas of the nation.
BNDES, particularly, can be an inducer of improvement for native industrial coverage.
BNamericas: Will photo voltaic power surpass hydroelectric power within the Brazilian electrical energy matrix?
Be part of: Market analysts say it’s going to occur round 2040. I believe so solely a matter of time. It should occur.
At the moment, 109GW [of electric energy] generated by hydroelectric vegetation and our projections for this yr level to 34GW of photo voltaic power. We’re within the third a part of the [the volume of] hydroelectric power, which for many years benefited from an unique public funding coverage.
BNamericas: The place are the primary long-term limits to growth?
Be part of: The excellent news is that there’s a lot of potential for growth in all areas.
Brazil has 92 million electrical energy consumption models, that are residential, business and industrial. Of this complete, solely 2 million are customers of photo voltaic power, whether or not customers who’ve their very own technology or who use power from some consortium. So we’ve got 90mn power consumption models to discover.
I see inexperienced hydrogen as a EXPANDED border. Now we have a job drive right here at Absolar to discover the potential of this market and I see the likelihood that the price of producing inexperienced hydrogen in Brazil would be the lowest on this planet by 2030, due to the assist of power initiatives in photo voltaic and wind.
