EN 
PT_BR 
ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) announced that solar photovoltaic was the third generation source with the highest entry into operation in 2020. 793.2 MW were installed (16% of the total) in 21 projects.
The one with the highest percentage was thermal, with 63 plants and 2,235.1 MW added, representing 45.3% of installed power in the year. Contributing to this number is the release for operation, in March, of the Porto de Sergipe I thermoelectric plant, in Barra dos Coqueiros (SE), with a capacity of 1,551 MW – considered the largest plant powered by natural gas in Latin America.
According to the agency, wind power comes in second place, with 1,725.8 MW in 53 plants, equivalent to 34.9% of the 2020 total.
The five states with the highest installed power in 2020 were: Amazonas (230.49 MW), Bahia (539.76 MW), Rio Grande do Norte (641.83 MW), Piauí (1,180.21 MW) and Sergipe (1,515. 64 MW).
Total released
Adding up all sources, ANEEL inspection released 4,932 MW for entry into commercial operation in the year – enough power to serve 6.1 million Brazilians, more than the combined population of the cities of Brasília and Salvador, the third and fourth largest in number of inhabitants in the country, with 3 million and 2.8 million people, respectively, stated the agency.
In total, plants were opened in 20 states. With this result, ANEEL exceeded the initial 2020 target of 4,112.43 MW by more than 800 MW.
The month of December saw the second largest expansion of the system last year, with 791.2 MW coming into operation – growth in the month was second only to that of March, of 1,605.9 MW.
Ten states completed new projects. The wind source achieved the highest entry into commercial operation in December, with 549.90 MW of installed power, representing 69.37% of the month's total.
Capacity installed
Brazil ended 2020 with an installed capacity of 174,412.6 MW of inspected power, according to data from ANEEL's SIGA (Generation Information System), updated daily with data from plants in operation and projects granted in the construction phase. Of this total, 74.76% of the plants are driven by renewable sources, with low greenhouse gas emissions.
