Brazil's installed power generation capacity increased by a record 10.9GW in 2024, surpassing government projections of 10.1GW.
New solar capacity from 147 new solar farms contributed with the largest share of new generation capacity connected to the grid in 2024, expanding by over 5.6GW, according to electricity regulator Aneel.
Wind power contributed with the second largest share of new capacity, as 121 new wind farms added 4.3GW of capacity. Hydroelectric capacity increased by 56MW from 11 new plants.
The country's thermoelectric capacity also posted modest gains, with 22 new plants adding 907MW of capacity to the grid.
More than 70pc of the new capacity came from three states, Minas Gerais (adding 3.17GW), Bahia (2.4GW) and Rio Grande do Norte (1.8GW).
With the expansions, Brazil reached nearly 209GW of installed capacity connected to the grid, of which nearly 85pc is renewable.
Aneel is projecting that new capacity connected to the grid will reach 9.37GW in 2025, including 3.6GW of solar, 2.4GW of thermoelectric and 2.34GW of wind power.
Installed distributed generation (DG) capacity increased by 30pc in 2024, or 7.4GW, bringing total capacity to 34GW, according to the Brazilian distributed generation association. The association is projecting DG to expand by an additional 22pc in 2025.
