Brazil’s Aneel has revoked 3.57 GW of photovoltaic project authorizations across four resolutions, mainly at the request of developers citing insufficient grid evacuation capacity and rising curtailment.
Image: Ilanwet, Pixabay
From pv magazine Brazil
Through four resolutions published in recent days, Brazil’s National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) revoked authorization for photovoltaic projects totaling 3,572 MW. The cancellations were requested by the project developers themselves, with the most frequent justification being insufficient grid evacuation capacity to connect plants to the transmission and distribution system. Generation curtailment was also cited.
Auren relinquished the largest volume of projects among the revocations published last week. Other companies, including Solatio and Enel Green Power, also requested the cancellation of more than 500 MW each.
By state, Piauí and Minas Gerais account for most of the revoked capacity, with 1,747 MW and 1,265 MW, respectively. Additional projects were cancelled in Bahia, Tocantins, and Rio Grande do Norte.
To qualify for revocation, projects must not have sold energy in the regulated market, meaning the authorizations applied to projects intended for the free market.
Despite recurring cancellations – another 2.8 GW were revoked in March – solar remains the leading technology in Brazil’s utility-scale expansion pipeline. Aneel’s tracking system, Ralie, currently lists 79 GW of projects at different stages of development, followed by 14.7 GW of wind capacity.
Distributed generation is also facing similar grid connection constraints. Alongside transmission expansion through auctions, increased battery storage deployment is being considered as a potential solution to alleviate bottlenecks.