Brazil awards 1.5 Gigawatts of Wind, Solar projects

Brazil recently published the results of the auction for the latest round of renewable energy projects.

Six different groups were awarded contracts for 20 wind farms with a combined capacity of 929.3 MW, while 15 companies won contracts for 33 solar plants with a combined capacity of 548.2 MW.

The companies awarded the wind projects included EDP Renovaveis, a local unit of Portuguese group EDP that obtained contracts to build and operate wind farms in the northeastern state of Bahia; Rio Energy, a group controlled by U.S. energy and resources private equity firm Denham Capital Management that secured licenses for eight wind farms in that same state; and Gestamp Eolica, a Brazil-based subsidiary of Spain's Gestamp Wind that acquired a license to build the 20 MW Pedra do Reino IV wind farm in Bahia.

Companies such as SunEdison Inc. and Rio Alto Energia won contracts in the solar energy auction.

The average selling price of solar enegry was of 297.75 reais ($77.49) a megawatt-hour, below the ceiling price of 381 reais a megawatt-hour. In a similar auction in August, the maximum price was 349 reais. 

For wind energy, the average price in the auction was 203.46 reais a megawatt-hour, below the 213-real ceiling. The maximum price in a similar auction in August was 184 reais.