Starting in July 2013, a 1 MW photovoltaic plant mounted on the roof of the Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto in Minas Gerais, one of the venues for the FIFA World Cup 2014, will generate electricity from solar energy.Brazil receives requests for 392 MW of solar power projects.
“Solar energy developer Arigó Solar Energia SPE submitted a request for the registration of one photovoltaic project totaling 30 MW. The plant is to be developed in Pocinhos municipality, in Brazil’s northeast Paraíba state,” PV Magazine writes.
In the same issue, ANEEL revealed that developer Solyes Geradora de Energia Ltda applied for registration for two photovoltaic plants: 30 MW Sol do Sertão XV and 30 MW Sol do Sertão XVIII, in Cônego Marinho municipality, in Minas Gerais state.
On May 9, the Brazilian regulator disclosed that Renova Energia, also submitted a request for registration for its 30.24 MW Caetité V photovoltaic plant, slated for construction in Bahía’s Caetité municipality.
Finally, in the same DOU issue, ANEEL announced that CPFL Energias Renováveis, the third largest Brazilian electric utility, submitted requests for regulatory authorization for 10 new photovoltaic plants with a combined capacity of 302.4 MW. The plants will be developed in Ourolândia municipality, in the northeastern state of Bahia.
Even prior to this solar surge, Brazil has been a renewable energy leader. 88.8% of Brazilian electricity came from renewable sources in 2011. A huge portion of that came from hydropower (which obviously has its issues), but biomass and wind power also provided notable amounts.
Wind power has been dominating Brazil’s power auctions for years. It is projected to hit 15.6 GW of capacity by 2021. But it is also ripe to become a clear solar power leader, accounting for 37% of Latin American solar power growth by 2017 according to NPD Solarbuzz.
Image Credit: NPD Solarbuzz, Emerging PV Markets Report: Latin America & Caribbean.
The inauguration of the plant taking place on May 17th, 2013- upon completion of mounting of the photovoltaic modules on the substruture- at the same time represents an important milestone of German-Brazilian cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency. This flagship project is the first commercial PV plant on top of an official WorldCup Stadium in Brazil and marks the first section of the MinasSolar 2014 project. The project has the objective to erect and operate PV plants on top of the sports facilities of Magalhães Pinto, popularly known as Mineirão, and the nearby Mineirinho.
The importance of the inauguration ceremony is underlined by its participants: Attending the inauguration were the Governor of the Brazilian federal state of Minas Gerais, Mr Antônio Anastasia, the State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Mr Hans-Jürgen Beerfeltz as well as the President of the Brazilian energy utility CEMIG, Mr Djalmo Bastos de Morais. CEMIG, the client of Lahmeyer International, is owner and future operator of the plant. A representative of the Lahmeyer project team also attended the event.
By order of the operating company Cemig Geração e Transmissão S.A. and upon recommendation of a satisfied client from an ongoing consultancy project in Brazil, the photovoltaic specialists of Lahmeyer were deployed in the project. Within this scope, they drew up the cost frame to be expected and defined objectives for the plant on top of the roof of the landmarked building dating back to the times of the style-setting architect Oscar Niemeyer. They also advised the project management team, prepared the design for the PV plants as well as the tender documents. In addition, the Lahmeyer experts reviewed the final design, supported the construction supervision team relating to critical activities, inspection of assembly as well as assistance in commissioning and performance tests.
The PV plant was installed around the court on top of the circular roof segments. It can supply 900 households with electricity. Being one of the first commercial plants bringing the generated electricity into the major client market segment, it marks CEMIGs entry into electricity production by means of PV power plants.
Within the project scope, Lahmeyer will provide similar services for the construction of a PV plant on top of the multi-purpose sports hall Mineirinho in the immediate vicinity of the stadium.