EDP, a company that operates across all segments of the Brazil’s electricity industry, will build a solar power plant for Minas Gerais-based company Enercred, winner of the 2017 EDP Starter Brazil startup accelereted program. Offering renewable energy services to residential consumers, the startup will lease EDP’s 91 kWp-capacity (kilowatt-peak) solar power plant located in southern Minas Gerais.

At the distributed micro-generation project will adopt a cooperative shared generation format, allowing a single solar power plant to supply several customers. The endeavor, which includes 350 photovoltaic modules capable of generating 14 MWh/year (megawatt hour), will be leased on a 15-year contract with operations expected to begin in the first half of 2019.

“This deal indicates the importance of promoting an entrepreneurial ecosystem and underlines our commitment to supporting, discovering and assisting the development of promising companies in the electricity industry”, said Carlos Andrade, VP of New Business at EDP.  

Increasing demand for the company’s services led Enercred to expand its business model. At the beginning of 2018, Enercred generated 15 kWp (kilowatt peak) at its previous plant, supplying around 20 customers. In 2019, the company plans to increase generation capacity to 150 kWp by the end of the first quarter, which is sufficient to supply around 100 consumers.

“Our partnership with EDP began with the EDP Starter Brazil program. Their support helped advance our company’s development. That is why we believe this contract could become a milestone for the solar power industry, as the pilot project will be an opportunity for both companies to learn from one another and create a new business model that will help our services develop”, said José Otavio Bustamante, Enercred CEO.

At the startup’s solution is based on a platform that allows customers to purchase energy credits generated by a renewable energy plant. The end customer can then enjoy savings on their traditional electricity bill and help support the towards environment, through gains such as reduced CO2 emissions.

Solar power market

According to the Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Power (ABSOLAR), Minas Gerais is the State with most renewable energy sources, with a 103.4 MWp (peak megawatt) capacity spread across several distribution projects.

According to the Association, Brazil’s distributed solar power generation has installed capacity exceeding 500 MWp and has received investments of R$ 2.5 billion, although it represents less than 0.01% of domestic demand. This solar solution currently has 80 million consumer units in the country and a enormous growth potential.

Emphasis on energy solutions

EDP has a department dedicated to supporting self-production and distributed generation solar ventures and is responsible for designing, operating and maintaining the systems. During the second half of 2018, the Company signed an agreement to build a plant that will provide 15 thousand photovoltaic panels to 58 Banco do Brasil branches in the state of Minas Gerais. The initiative will help Banco do Brasil save around R$ 82 million over a 15-year period.

At the Company was also responsible for one of the country’s largest projects in terms of photovoltaic coverage, with installed capacity of 1.33 MWp, which was deployed on the roof of a shopping center in Rio Grande do Sul. The Company also pioneered development of energy self-production solutions for business consumers at a Rio de Janeiro shopping center. The complex in Minas Gerais has two solar power plants and installed capacity of 8.33 MWp.

EDP is also responsible for delivering a solar power project to the Hospital managed by the Children with Cancer Support Group - GACC Vale do Paraíba, located in São José dos Campos, in the state of São Paulo.  Nearing completion, the system will include 566 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the hospital and generate 232 MWh per year, equivalent to the annual energy requirements of 64 households.