Canadian Solar, one of the world’s leading solar power companies, announced on Tuesday that it had successfully been awarded 364 megawatts (MW) worth of solar projects in Brazil’s most recent renewable energy auction which was held earlier this month and which awarded around 1 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity.
Brazil’s government-run energy agency, Empresa de Pesquisa Energetica (EPE) and the Electric Energy Trading Chamber (CCEE) announced last week the winners for its A-4 auction which was held on April 4. In total, around 1 GW was awarded including 114.4 MW worth of wind power, 61.8 MW worth of biomass, 41.6 MW worth of small-scale hydroelectricity, and a mammoth 806.6 MW worth of solar power.
According to reports, the average price for solar projects in the A-4 auction was around 118 BRL ($35.2)/MW-hour (MWh) after the country’s energy regulator, ANEEL, had established a maximum price of 312 BRL (US$96.5)/MWh for PV.
Canadian Solar was definitely one of the big winners out of this auction, announcing on Tuesday that it had been awarded a total of 364 MW for three solar PV projects in the auction. The three projects were awarded in the states of Minas Gerais and Ceara and were each awarded under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement. Upon completion, the three Canadian Solar projects are expected to provide approximately 706,056 MWh of clean electricity to the grid, and are all expected to begin commercial operation in 2022.
“We are proud to be the only company that has been successful in winning projects in all of the five Federal Auctions held to date in Brazil,” said Dr Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. “Brazil has proven to be an important market for us. Relentless innovations and focuses on driving down cost while improving efficiencies in all aspects have allowed Canadian Solar to deliver a 55.5% reduction in energy prices from the first auction, which accelerated the adoption of solar energy in the country.”
French renewable energy EDF Energies Nouvelles was another of the auction’s successful recipients, being awarded the contract to build a 114 MW wind farm. The project, which is to be built in the state of Bahia, is expected to be commissioned in 2021 and will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of around 290,000 Brazilian homes each year.
