BNDES Admits Arctech to FINAME, Boosting Solar Trackers Across Brazil

• BNDES accreditation lets Arctech’s 1P solar trackers tap FINAME credit, cutting project costs and expanding the Chinese manufacturer’s Latin American reach.

Chinese solar-tracking specialist Arctech has taken a decisive step toward deepening its Brazilian roots after the country’s development bank BNDES approved the company’s local arm for the FINAME equipment-financing programme.

FINAME accreditation means that Arctech’s single-row SkyLine II 1P tracker now qualifies for the subsidised credit lines BNDES extends to buyers of domestically manufactured machinery. Developers will be able to fund tracker purchases in Brazilian reais at below-market interest rates and stretch repayments over longer tenors, a benefit expected to accelerate the next wave of solar build-outs in the resource-rich interior.

Alejandro Silva Zamora, Arctech’s director for Brazil and the southern Latin America region, called the approval “a key milestone that validates our industrial commitment and opens doors throughout the continent.” Arctech already ships steel structures, electronics and control systems from its manufacturing hub in São José dos Pinhais, Paraná, and says FINAME recognition underscores the local content embedded in its supply chain.

The Chinese group has supplied more than 60 GW of tracking systems across 40 countries, including marquee projects in Minas Gerais and Bahia. By lowering the financing hurdle, it hopes to cement a larger share of Brazil’s solar-tracker market, forecast by research house Wood Mackenzie to exceed 4 GW a year through 2028 as the country races to meet decarbonisation targets and shore up hydro-dependent grids against drought.

FINAME status will also resonate beyond Brazil’s borders. Because the programme confirms a high degree of localisation, utilities and independent power producers in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Central America—many of whom seek tariff-free access to Mercosur components—can now tap Arctech’s Brazilian production base to meet their own content rules. The result, says Silva Zamora, is a regional logistics corridor that trims shipping times and currency risk for Latin American developers.

BNDES in 2024 financed a record BRL 15.3 billion (USD 2.9 billion) in renewable-energy equipment under FINAME, and analysts expect the figure to climb further as a national tax reform slashes duties on low-carbon technologies. Arctech’s freshly minted eligibility positions it to ride that wave while helping Brazil turn its abundant sunlight into firm, low-cost power.