As a major hydropower country, Brazil's hydropower installed capacity accounts for nearly 80% of the total renewable energy power installed capacity so far. With the rapid economic growth and the impact of the drought this year, Brazil's energy supply has tightened, and both coal and natural gas need to be imported in large quantities. In this context, wind power and photovoltaics have become the best options for Brazil to reduce its dependence on fossil energy.

Inspired by the mid- to long-term emission reduction targets and the continuous improvement of renewable energy competitiveness, Brazil has had a strong willingness to develop renewable energy in recent years. A few days ago, Brazilian energy regulatory agency Aneel approved a new regulation for multi-energy complementary power stations, hoping to promote the development of renewable energy represented by wind power and photovoltaic power through continuous improvement of relevant laws and regulatory systems.

New regulations promote clean energy development

It is reported that the new bill released by Brazil first defines the range of energy types for multi-energy complementary power stations, clearly supports power stations with wind power and photovoltaic power generation as the main energy type, and allows the addition of hydropower and thermal power plants to encourage the synergy of different energy combinations Development has prompted Brazil to make better use of renewable energy.

In addition, the new bill also promulgated the electricity price setting mechanism for such power stations, grid access thresholds, rules for signing electricity sales contracts, network fees, and related preferential tax policies.

It is understood that as early as 2017, Brazilian public utilities began the exploration of multi-energy complementary power stations. Since then, some small demonstration projects have been put into operation. And just before Aneel approved the new bill, a batch of multi-energy complementary power plants based on wind power and photovoltaic power generation were still under construction.

Aneel pointed out that investing in the construction of multi-energy complementary power stations can coordinate the planning of wind power, photovoltaic and other renewable energy power stations, effectively solving the problem of excessively large area of power stations due to decentralization and other reasons, saving land and other non-technical costs, and also saving power transmission. The construction cost of the network reduces the risk of power plant operators.

Elisa Bastos, head of Aneel, said: “The promulgation of the new bill can be seen as a milestone in the development of Brazil’s multi-energy complementary power stations. It provides a theoretical framework for the industry and ensures that investors, constructors, and operators have a clear understanding and strategy. Significance. Multi-energy complementary power stations integrate different types of energy, which can reduce grid-related investments and increase the diversity of renewable energy technologies."

Industry media "Photovoltaic Magazine" wrote an article that the new bill will add fire to the Brazilian market to invest in the construction of multi-energy complementary power stations.

Wind power and photovoltaics make great strides

Although wind power and photovoltaic power generation are very popular, as of now, hydropower accounts for the highest proportion of cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy in Brazil, reaching about 76%. Brazil is also known as a major hydropower country. However, the high proportion of hydropower has not helped Brazil achieve "energy freedom", and it has also fallen into a vicious circle of "looking at the weather".

This year, Brazil suffered a rare frost and the worst drought in nearly a century. Many hydroelectric power stations were in urgent need of water storage. More than 30 hydroelectric power stations could not generate full power. Brazil had to rely on higher-cost and more polluting thermal power plants, and from Argentina. , Uruguay and other neighboring countries import electricity, resulting in high electricity prices.

This is not the first time that the above situation has occurred. In 2001 and 2017, Brazil also suffered from a shortage of energy supply due to dry weather. Unlike other countries, in the face of the energy transition, Brazil, which has a high proportion of renewable energy, hopes to vigorously develop wind power and photovoltaic power generation, increase the installed scale of non-hydro renewable energy, and reduce the proportion of hydropower. As the Brazilian government continues to promote the bidding of non-aqueous renewable energy, in recent years, the newly installed capacity of wind power and photovoltaic power generation in Brazil has continued to increase, and has shown market-oriented characteristics.

According to the latest Brazilian wind power installed capacity data released by the energy information website REVE, as of the end of November, the cumulative installed capacity of wind power in Brazil has reached 20.1 million kilowatts, accounting for 11.11% of all energy; in the first 11 months of this year, the newly installed wind power capacity in Brazil was 3.0513 million Kilowatts, accounting for 47.41% of all new energy installed capacity, which is the highest since 2014. Today, wind power has become Brazil's second largest source of electricity, and Brazil's cumulative installed capacity of wind power ranks seventh in the world.

According to data from the Brazilian consulting company Greener, Brazil imported 1.049 million kilowatts of photovoltaic modules in October alone; in the first 10 months of this year, Brazil imported 7.5 million kilowatts of photovoltaic modules, maintaining rapid growth. Aneel also publicly stated that in the first 10 months of this year, Brazil's newly installed power generation capacity totaled 5,869,300 kilowatts, of which wind power and photovoltaic power generation topped the list.

Chinese companies actively participate

Brazil is located in the tropics and has abundant sunlight resources. At the same time, wind energy resources are also very rich, mainly distributed in the northeast, southeast and southern regions. The superior natural conditions have made Brazil the largest wind power market in Latin America.

EPE, an agency under the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy, estimates that under the optimistic scenario, the scale of distributed photovoltaic deployment in Brazil will be between 23 million kilowatts and 42 million kilowatts by 2030; by 2031, the cumulative installed capacity of distributed photovoltaic power in Brazil will reach 36 million kilowatt. Industry information agency Fitch Solutions said that during the period 2021-2030, Brazil's wind power is expected to add 23.7 million kilowatts of installed capacity, more than double the current cumulative installed capacity.

In the context of emission reduction targets and the continuous improvement of renewable energy competitiveness, internationally renowned energy companies such as Vestas, General Electric and Siemens have begun to participate in the construction of renewable energy in Brazil. In addition, Brazil's local petrochemical companies have also begun to transform, with leading companies such as Braskem taking the lead in investing and developing renewable energy projects.

Roberta Bonomi, head of the Brazilian market for the Italian energy company Enel Green Power, said that developing non-aqueous renewable energy and exploring the diversified application of renewable energy is a good way for Brazil to get rid of water shortages.

It is worth mentioning that Chinese companies are also actively participating in the development of renewable energy in Brazil. State Grid has participated in the construction of a number of hydropower projects in Brazil. At the same time, it has also acquired or participated in several Brazilian power transmission or renewable energy companies through equity acquisitions. It has become the third largest transmission operator in Brazil. In September 2018, a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China won the bid for Brazil's Camelera Wind Power Project. The project is located in Brazil's Norte-Dahe state, with a total investment of about 530 million yuan and an installed capacity of 79,700 kilowatts. The project is scheduled to be delivered in 2024. Three Gorges Group is also an old friend of Brazil's wind power market. The industry generally believes that with the continuous advancement of climate change goals, Chinese companies can play their advantages in capital and equipment manufacturing in the future to promote the diversification of Brazil's energy structure and the process of reducing emissions.