As a photovoltaic emerging market, Latin America has always attracted the attention of global investors/developers with its huge installed potential. However, unlike relatively mature markets such as Europe, Latin America is mainly driven by government-oriented electricity price bidding, especially for large projects. Once the project fails to be auctioned or the bid case is cancelled, it will have a relatively large impact on the installation volume throughout the year.
PV info link gave the 2019 component demand forecast by the agency in 2019 at the symposium on the 2019 second half of photovoltaic market trends and outlook held in Shanghai in early June this year. Among them, Latin America is mainly composed of several countries such as Mexico , Brazil, Argentina, Chile , and the annual demand is expected to be around 8GW.
Picture: The demand for photovoltaic modules in the Latin American market in 2019
is now coming to an end. Let’s take a look at the photovoltaic policies of these major markets and the progress of key bidding projects:
Mexico’s fourth round of bidding was cancelled, and the government is planning to restart negotiations on the previous bidding contracts
According to the latest data of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), in 2018 alone, Mexico’s photovoltaic installation volume increased from the original 674MW to 2.5GW, which is a well-deserved market star. The Mexican government conducted three procurements after implementing the energy reform in 2015, allocating about 6GW of photovoltaic power generation capacity. The third auction achieved the lowest global solar bid price ever - US$0.02057/kWh. Mexico's large-scale projects are also investment and construction by international giants. China Power Construction won the general contracting and operation and maintenance contracts for the Pachamama 375MW photovoltaic project and the Birdlero 296MW photovoltaic project respectively in February and March this year.
Capital Mexico City is launching the "Sun City" project, which will install a 350MW photovoltaic project in this large city. This plan has received 7.929 billion Mexican pesos ($415.2 million) from the World Bank program, accounting for the vast majority of the project funds. Mexico Mayor Sheinbaum said, "We are talking about a very ambitious goal! This project will reduce the emissions of about 2 million tons of carbon dioxide for Mexico City."
Unfortunately, the new Mexican President Andrés Manuel López The policies implemented by Obrador cast a shadow on the national solar industry. Some of the large projects developed by the former president through energy market reforms have encountered obstacles in the new government. The fourth energy auction originally planned to be held at the end of 2018 was never launched and was eventually cancelled by the new government in January. The power purchase agreement signed by the previous government with state-owned utility CFE several years ago may also be torn.
At present, the Mexican government is planning to renegotiate the previous bidding contract, which will affect whether the overall installation volume this year can reach the expected value of 2.4GW.
Brazil recently announced the final selected list of photovoltaic projects
On June 13, Brazil announced the final shortlist of a series of renewable energy bidding projects, and further screened based on the scope of pre-selected projects two months ago. Since April this year, as many as 751 photovoltaic projects have been registered, with a total installed capacity of 26.2GW, but the final list of this time is only about 700 related, with a total installed capacity of about 10GW. If these projects compete with wind power, hydropower and other forms of power generation projects at the A-4 auction on June 28 and sign contracts, the government will ensure the corresponding photovoltaic capacity. The finalists of the photovoltaic companies include Voltalia, Enerlife, Aurora Energia, Solatio, etc. Among them, Voltalia is seeking a bid for a 15.3MW project. Among the upcoming auctions of more than 100GW of energy projects to be held in October this year, photovoltaic projects accounted for 29.7GW, with outstanding performance.
As of June 11 this year, Brazil's distributed power generation broke through the 1GW mark. For this figure, power supervision agency ANEEL described this milestone as a "major breakthrough" and compared it with the "smartphone revolution" in the telecommunications field. Nevertheless, some photovoltaic industry insiders have warned that if (government) changes its support policies for distributed power, it will lead to a slowdown in distributed power generation.
Two companies that have achieved remarkable results in investment and development of photovoltaic projects in Brazil in the first half of the year: EDP and McDonald's.
EDP has completed its largest photovoltaic project ever in Brazil, and will provide all the cleaning power to a large shopping mall in Rio de Janeiro. The 8.33MW project has an installation area of 24 football fields, using 25,440 photovoltaic modules. Brazilian Electric Power Bureau ANEEL transferred the photovoltaic power station to the power grid through a 9.5-kilometer-long cable and successfully operated. For the VillageMall, located in western Rio de Janeiro, the solar contract will reduce it by more than 227,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
McDonald's signed solar power supply agreements through various branches in Brazil, totaling 5.3MW. According to the agreement, the local power supply company AES Tietê will develop a distributed power station using 2.1 photovoltaic modules, which will be constructed separately in minars Gerais state , Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and São Paulo in . The project requires approximately US$7.75 million in initial investment, and AES Tiete is solely responsible for the oversight and operation.
Picture: Brazil will hold A-4 renewable energy bid at the end of June, and the upper limit of the photovoltaic auction price is R$ 276/MWh
By the end of 2018, the cumulative photovoltaic installation volume in Brazil is about 2.3GW, and the A-4 renewable energy bid will be held at the end of this month. The upper limit of the photovoltaic auction price is R$ 276/MWh, which is approximately RMB 480.157/MWh.
Argentina's parliament promoted the development of renewable energy to attract cheers from the industry
On June 13, a legislative action to expand renewable energy in Argentina was praised by the local industry. The bill will set a 30% renewable energy target by 2030 based on the existing 25% target for 2025.
For Argentina, which currently has only 795MW photovoltaic project waiting for bidding, both Mexico's 2.5GW and Chile's 2.13GW are really pale in comparison. Now, Argentina is going to catch up through auctions and other methods.
In addition to promoting large-scale photovoltaic projects as soon as possible, small systems are also being released continuously. A total of 128MW includes 1-50MW of bids of various sizes will be launched in July. According to data from IRENA, Chile doubled its installed capacity between 2016 and 2018 (from the original 1.12GW to the current 2.13GW), and in recent weeks, a series of public utility projects around the Atacama Desert have been making methodical progress.
The latest 6 projects in Chile totaled 171MW and received environmental approval
According to the latest report of the Chilean National Energy Commission (CNE), as of the end of April, Chile's renewable energy installed capacity reached 4.906GW, accounting for 21% of the country's total installed capacity.
renewable energy power plants generate 1,032GWh, accounting for nearly 17% of total power generation in April.
As of the end of April, 92 projects worth US$4.8 billion (€4.2 billion) are awaiting approval from the environmental protection department. Their total capacity is 3,452MW. In April, 16 new projects submitted environmental assessments, with a total capacity of 533MW, of which 13 are solar and 3 are wind. In addition, a total of 171MW of 6 solar projects have been approved by the environmental.
The summary of the situation of Chile's renewable energy project is found in the table below, and the data is provided by CNE:
Peru The government approved the latest 500MW giant photovoltaic power station
Preparation for the construction of a large photovoltaic power station in Peru has been approved by the government, which dwarfs other power stations in Peru.
A recent resolution by the Peruvian Ministry of Energy authorized developer Kallpa Generación to conduct a feasibility study on the 500MW Solar Sunny power plant located in arid region in southeastern Peru.
Energy Minister Francisco Ísmodes approved the feasibility study application and required that the assessment work in the La Joya area (near Arequipa City) must be completed within two years. In addition to complying with technical and safety regulations, it cannot have adverse effects on the environment and local cultural heritage.
The government of Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra, who took office in March last year, is working to implement the climate change bill passed a year ago. We strive to achieve complete electrification of rural areas by 2021.
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