Minas Gerais Becomes Brazilian State with Largest Capacity in Renewable Energy

Minas Gerais has become a Brazilian state with the largest capacity in non-conventional renewable energy.

According to the data of the electricity regulator ANEEL, the southeastern state has the largest capacity in solar and wind power.

The data suggests that around 25,587MW of solar power is either under construction or works have been approved for construction.

This state is popular for solar generation due to availability of land in areas of strong solar incidence and due to relatively high regulated energy rate.

After Minas Gerais, Bahia state leads the capacity chart with 13,475MW capacity. It includes 7,019MW of solar and 6,456MW and of wind power. Rio Grande do Norte has 4,700MW of wind and 4,637MW of solar.

A local report mentioned that there were 11,315MW of DG solar projects installed in Brazil as of June, which referred local PV solar power association Absolar. In this, Minas Gerais is leading with 1,840MW. It has been attracting consumers to the free market while also offering tax benefits in the case of DG.

Absolar's technical and regulatory director, Carlos Dornellas, was quoted in a report, “By 2050 we expect solar generation to lead the national electricity matrix."