This week, how Brazil plans to rely more on solar power plants. The names on Bolsonaro’s shortlist for incoming vacancies at the Supreme Court. How Brazilian markets performed. Also, what you should be looking out for this week—and the most important facts of the previous seven days.
Government plans for solar energy expansion
Solar power accounts for a little over 1 percent of Brazil’s energy mix, but the government plans to push that share up to 8 percent in the next ten years. Investments are already underway, according to experts—and the country is expected to spend BRL 9.5 billion by 2025 on solar power plants alone. These figures only account for solar contracts that have already been awarded, at least another BRL 10.6 billion has been invested prior to 2020.
Why it matters. Brazil is one of the countries with the highest potential for solar power (over 2,200 hours of sunshine per year, according to the National Institute of Space Research). Still, this energy source is massively underutilized.
Less green. According to the Energy Expansion Ten-Year Plan for 2019-2029, Brazil plans to reduce its dependence on hydropower plants—from 58 to 42 percent of the energy mix—double wind power sources and...