Brazil plans to add 22GW to grid by 2026

Brazil plans to expand its power grid by 22GW by 2026, according to operator ONS, bringing installed generation capacity to 196GW.

The capacity expansion is part of the operator's five-year plan for Brazil's power operation (PEN 2022), which ONS released this week. Thermal plants should represent 5.8GW of the total, while solar and wind generation will account for 13.7GW. Biomass, small hydro plants and hydro generation account for the remaining 2.6GW of the expansion.

ONS expects distributed generation units to grow by 10GW through the end of the period, across solar, wind, small thermal power generators and small hydro plants.

Under the PEN 2022 plan, ONS does not expect an increase in thermal generation inflexibility — the minimum amount of power the government has to pay for to ensure dispatch for take-or-pay clauses in fuel supply agreements,— maintaining the current 7pc levels.

Brazil has around 10,500MW in available thermal generation capacity under a R400/MWh ($78.20/MWh) fuel cost (CVU) and an additional 11,000MW of thermal plants above that CVU.

By Rebecca Gompertz