Partnership includes renewable power generation for 10 to 15 years to 1,000 consumption points in four states
12/09/2022
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Aurélien Maudonnet — Foto: Divulgação
Helexia Brasil, a subsidiary of the French group Voltalia, has signed long-term contracts to supply phone carrier TIM, fuel distribution company Vibra, and pharmacy chain Raia Drogasil with solar power. There will be nearly 1,000 consumption points for clients of these companies in Rondônia, Rio Grande do Norte, São Paulo, and Mato Grosso do Sul.
In total, it will be 14.7 megawatts-peak (MWp) of installed power, divided among eight photovoltaic plants in the distributed generation (DG) model for 10 to 15 years. The company already has the permits for access. The construction works of the solar units are scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2023 and end by December.
The investment to start generation in these ventures totals R$76 million. In this contract format, the power produced is injected into the National Interconnected System (SIN) and will be transformed into credit for the companies, which will have, on average, a 10% discount backed according to the regulated market, a segment served by power distributors. Another kind of contract was signed in 2020 with Telefónica’s Vivo, in Paraná.
CEO Aurélien Maudonnet said that Vibra will keep 4 MW of the power generated, TIM will get 8.5 MW and Raia Drogasil will take 2.2 MW. “With these projects, we now have 100 MWp in the portfolio signed and projects that we will execute in 2023,” he said. “In addition, we have a portfolio of 250 MW” with the necessary permits.
Today the distributed generation segment is one of the most profitable in the power industry and increases about 1 GW per month in the generation mix, higher than any other source. This is because the legal framework for self-generation of energy (distributed generation), signed into law by the Bolsonaro administration last January, created a sense of urgency in the development of new projects to ensure the use of distributors’ network free of charge by 2045.
Companies have a legal requirement to build the projects up to 12 months after permits are issued. Mr. Maudonnet, however, says he is confident in putting the number of projects to operate since funds are available for promising markets.
“In this 250 MW of projects, in addition to the portfolio of signed contracts, our shareholder is ready to invest with equity of our own,” said Mr. Maudonnet.
The executive does not reveal the number, just that Voltalia has a four-year investment plan and by 2027 intends to disburse €3 billion to double the installed capacity and reach 5 GW. It is known that 35% of these funds will come to Latin America, especially Brazil, since the activities in Colombia and Mexico are embryonic, and 60% will be for solar power.
“The shareholders are willing to invest R$3.5 billion in the solar segment in Brazil in the next four years. Of course, this money will have to be shared with Voltalia, but these mega projects of centralized [large-scale] solar generation tend to disappear,” he said.
*By Robson Rodrigues — São Paulo
Source: Valor International