Brazilians' electricity bills will become even more expensive in the coming months, due to the low number of solar plants that were contracted, this Monday (25), in the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) emergency auction, according to assessment of ABSOLAR (Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association).
According to the entity, the solar source had a negligible result in the competition in relation to the most polluting sources, especially thermoelectric plants. For this reason, the association understands that Brazilians will pay more for electricity to compensate for the activation of thermal generation plants.
The auction included the participation of solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass thermoelectric, fuel oil, diesel oil and natural gas projects. In total, 972 projects were registered, totaling 62 GW of power, equivalent to more than a third of the current power of the Brazilian electricity matrix.
The photovoltaic source was registered with only 78 projects, totaling 1,86 GW of power and only 3% of all energy offered. For the ABSOLAR, one of the reasons for the low level of solar contracting was the “overcontracting” of distributors, which have old contracts for the supply of electricity from plants that today do not have the structural conditions to deliver the agreed megawatts, the so-called physical guarantee.
“Therefore, a review of the physical guarantee is necessary, so that the auctions can have contracts aligned with the country's energy generation needs”, said Rodrigo Sauaia, executive president of ABSOLAR.
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For the Vice President of Centralized Generation at ABSOLAR, Anderson Concon, solar energy is one of the best solutions for expanding Brazil's renewable electricity generation capacity, especially in this critical period of water crisis, with a new tariff flag and energy imports.
“Unfortunately, the solar source, which is the most competitive for citizens, fell far short of the country's needs, to diversify the matrix from sources that are more competitive and accessible to the population”, he commented.
According to the executive, a large photovoltaic plant becomes operational in less than 18 months, from the auction to the start of electricity generation. “Therefore, if the auctions canceled in the recent past had contracted solar energy, the current scenario would be less critical”, assesses Concon.
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