EN 
PT_BR 
The growth of photovoltaic solar market has attracted new players for the electrical energy sector.
Banks, telecommunications companies and even gas distributors have announced initiatives that consist of offering services that provide cost reduction through discounts on energy bills for individual and legal entity customers.
A solar subscription does not involve the installation of solar panels, as customers are connected to a remote power plant (generally built and operated by third parties), classified as shared generation.
The energy generated by this project is injected into the grid and converted into credits that will be deducted from the final amount that consumers pay for electricity.
A Genial Energy, group company Genial Investimentos, is investing in the construction of 10 distributed solar energy generation plants in Rio de Janeiro, with a total capacity of 50 MW and a cost of R$ 250 million, with completion scheduled for the first half of 2023.
In July, Genial Energy inaugurated its first 100% proprietary distributed solar energy generation plant, in Vassouras (RJ), with a capacity of 5 MW, aimed at legal entities. The investment was R$ 25 million.
After that, the Genial Group formed Genial Solar, a company responsible for the development, construction and operation of solar plants. Genial Energy also provides solutions for the commercialization and management of electrical energy on the free market.
In turn, the C6 Bank has entered into a partnership with solar energy subscription company Prana, in which it offers up to 15% discount on the electricity bill for corporate customers who spend more than R$ 500 monthly.
C6 Bank also maintains a partnership along the same lines with Raízen, which offers discounts of up to 30% on the electricity bill of corporate customers (30% in Minas Gerais and 20% in other states).
To request the discount, the customer must register the energy bill as an automatic debit to the C6 Bank corporate account and fill out the form on the partner company's page.
“The objective is to provide real savings to the bank’s corporate customers, who are constantly in search of efficiency, and at the same time encourage the adoption of sustainable solutions, through green energy sources”, he said in a note.
In the telecommunications sector, Clear, for example, has a pilot project that consists of offering solar energy on a subscription basis to individual customers in the states of Minas Gerais, Paraná and Santa Catarina.
Claro said it has been looking at the energy market carefully. “Claro is studying this business opportunity with great interest, applying this expertise acquired in the energy sector, to test a product that, added to other telecom services, will facilitate consumer engagement in adhering to the use of renewable energy, generating savings , contributing to the positive impact on the environment and adding loyalty to the telecom service”, said Claro’s Infrastructure director, Hamilton Silva, to Solar Channel.
The company does not rule out the possibility of expanding the service to other regions of the country. “We emphasize that the availability of energy, capable of serving customers in a massive way, at a competitive price, in a digital journey, are important points that are being observed”.
OI is also entering the electricity sector through the free market and distributed generation. In 2022, the company tested offering subscription-based energy in Minas Gerais, first for employees and then for a restricted group of customers.
The business model consists of offering discounts of up to 15% on your electricity bill for customers with an average consumption of R$ 200 per month.
According to Bernardo Estefan, New Business Manager at OI, the company begins 2023 offering the service more massively to customers in MG, already negotiating with several new locations to be able to offer the service in other regions of the country.
For him, the relationship with customers, the communication and commercial channels and the power of the brand are competitive differentiators that enable the company to be a relevant player in the energy market. “We have positioned ourselves to be a true provider of services and solutions for our customers.”
At the same time, OI also has a partnership with 2W Power to sell energy on the free market, in anticipation of the opening of the high voltage market, which will take place from January 2024.
“In this sense, we begin to have a broader and more complete portfolio of products that allow OI to be well positioned within this sector, to be a relevant player in energy supply as this market opens up more broadly. ”.
Already the Ultragaz, a distributor of liquefied gas, announced last year the purchase of Stella Energia, which also offers energy by subscription, marking its entry into the electricity sector.
With an investment of R$ 63 million, the company explains that the incorporation of Stella Energia is part of the strategy to offer alternatives to low voltage consumers who will be able to access more competitive prices to consume energy.
Stella was founded in 2019 and since 2021 it has been accelerated by UVC Investimentos – Ultra Group's venture capital fund. Currently, the company has more than 11 thousand customers and a power of approximately 75 MWp.
