Distributed Solar Leads Growth in Brazil's Power Matrix

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Historically, Brazil's electricity capacity has been dominated by hydropower. But distributed solar power, along with utility-scale solar and wind, is growing rapidly, with the trend expected to continue.

Distributed solar is driving Brazil's renewable capacity growth, having risen from less than 1 gigawatt (GW) in 2018 to 40 GW by June 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL).

Numbers from Brazil's Electric System Operator (ONS) show that by September, distributed solar, wind and hydropower generation reached 43.4 GW, comprising 17.8% of national capacity.

This growth was driven by government net-metering policies introduced in 2012, allowing owners of systems of up to 1 megawatt (MW) to sell excess electricity. In 2015, the threshold was raised to 5 MW for solar and other renewables, while small hydropower units were capped at 3 MW.

In the last few years, new policies included storage capacity for distributed systems above 3 MW, excluding solar, according to the EIA.

Regionally, by June, Brazil's Sao Paulo state led with the largest amount of solar distributed capacity at 5.76 GW, followed by Minas Gerais with 4.93 GW, and Parana with 3.67 GW, based on the EIA and ANEEL.

The growth in distributed renewable systems is expected to continue for the next few years. According to the ONS, their capacity will represent 24.2% of the national power generation capacity of the interconnected system (SIN), reaching 64.9 GW by 2029.

Utility-scale solar and wind also have played a key role in expanding renewable capacity over the last years. Based on the ONS data, by September, utility-scale solar power had reached 17.2 GW, accounting for 7.1% of the SIN, while utility wind capacity stood at 33.9 GW, or 13.9% of the SIN.

Both utility-scale technologies are expected to grow, reaching 24 GW for solar (8.9%) and 36.1 GW for wind (13.5%) by 2029, according to ONS.

The strategy to expand renewable power has been backed by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which aims to balance growth in wind and solar energy with the extraction of hydrocarbons.

Renewables are expected to help meet the increasing demand for electricity nationwide and will play a key role in the government's policy to decarbonize sectors such as mining.

Additionally, renewables are central to Brazil's new push to become a data center powerhouse, supporting electricity demand through sustainable sources such as wind and solar power.

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