EDP, a company that operates across all areas of the electricity sector, is set to build a solar power plant for Brametal, which owns one of the world’s largest hot-dip galvanized metal structure factories for the power transmission and generation, telecoms and renewable energy generation markets, especially using wind and photovoltaic sources. The facility will generate around 2,409 MWh annually, enough power to supply 803 homes consuming an average of 250KWh/month or 3,000 kWh/year. This will be Espírito Santo largest solar plant in terms of installed power.

At the plant will be built in Linhares (ES), incorporating over 3,700 photovoltaic modules covering an area of around 30,000 square meters. The power generated by the unit will avoid 186.93 tons of CO₂ emissions, which is equivalent to planting 1,378 trees. In addition to the environmental benefits, the venture will help Brametal reduce electricity costs at its Espírito Santo manufacturing unit by around R$ 360 thousand a year.

“EDP’s solution developed means Brametal will be better able to predict its electricity costs and make considerable savings. The contract was a significant achievement for the EDP group”, said Fernando Saliba, director of EDP Grid.

At the project will include tracking technology - structures that move to track the sun as it moves across the sky - made by Brametal itself, which means the facility will also be used to showcase the company’s equipment.

 “Brametal is a long-standing EDP partner and has supplied equipment for a number of major projects, including 255 towers, weighing a total of over 800 tons, for 103 km of 230 kV transmission lines between Linhares and São Mateus, in Espírito Santo, and will supply approximately 27,000 tons of towers for a 500 kV transmission line stretching 750 km between the states of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo. This partnership, which has developed over a number of years, has taken a step further with this major solar power project, the first of its kind in Espírito Santo using 100% Brazil-made tracking technology”, said Rui Luiz Scotti, Brametal CEO.

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. Between 2017 and 2018, the Company negotiated 15 solar power projects representing approximately 25 MWp in contracted capacity. One project is to build a plant using 15 thousand photovoltaic panels that will serve 88 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 in the 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.

Solar power in Espírito Santo

According to the “Espírito Santo Solar Energy - Technologies, Applications and Opportunities” study produced by the Espírito Santo Publi Energy Services Agency (Aspe) in partnership with the Espírito Santo Institute for Research, Technical Services and Rural Extension (Incaper), the State has an optimum level of solar irradiation, second only to some of the state capitals in Brazil’s Northeast. 

Last year, according to ANSOLAR (the Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Power Association) Brazil passed the milestone of 2,000 megawatts of operational power from photovoltaic sources and the industry expects to reach its nextr milestone, of 3,000 MW of installed power, by the end of 2019.

Technical specifications of the Brametal solar plant

• 3,720 x 360Wp modules (1,339 kWp of power)


• 11 x 100kW inverters


• Monthly Power Output: 200.75 kWh (average)


• Annual Power Output: 2,409 MW


• Capacity Factor: 20.53%

About EDP in Brazil

EDP has over 20 years’ experience and is one of the biggest private-sector companies operating across the entire value chain. The company has over 10,000 direct and indirect staff and is involved in energy Generation, Distribution, Transmission, Sales and Services. The company owns six hydro power plants and one thermal power station that serve around 3.4 million people in the states of São Paulo and Espírito Santo. The Company recently acquired a stake in CELESC, from Santa Catarina. In Brazil, the company is noted for its Innovation, Governance and Sustainability and has been included in the B3 Business Sustainability Index (BSI) for 13 consecutive years.

About Brametal

Founded in the city of Criciúma, Santa Catarina, in 1975 by engineer Ayrton Egídio de Mattos Brandão, Brametal was initially set up to supply the civil construction market. The company built its history and values around the entrepreneurial attitudes of its founder and later those of his son, Ricardo Minatto Brandão, who is also an engineer. Based in Linhares-ES since 2000, with manufacturing units in Criciúma-SC and Sabará-MG, 43 years after it was founded the company is now the biggest manufacturer in the Americas of hot-dip galvanized metal structures for the power transmission and generation, telecoms and renewable power generation markets, particularly for solar and wind sources. The company can produce around 150,000 tons of metal structures a year

This year, as the power transmission market starts to rebound and following the company’s acquisition of a new manufacturing unit in MG, Brametal is implementing new product strategies - such as the Monotube Metal Tower (Metallic Posts) for the Electricity Transmission and Distribution and Telecommunication markets, Metal Support Structures for Photovoltaic Panels, for the Solar Power Market, and Latticed Metal Towers to Support Aerogenerators for the Wind Power market. As a result, it expects to improve on its 2018 revenues by around 20%.