Brazil’s Copel contracts 128 MW of solar and wind in own auction

Brazilian energy firm Companhia Paranaense de Energia (Copel), which operates in the state of Paraná, says its Copel Comercialização S.A. unit has contracted 127.9 MW of solar and wind power after holding an energy auction last week.

The company said the energy will be provided by power plants with a total generation capacity of 444.3 MW and electricity will be bought at an unspecified price under a 15-year power purchase agreement. The tendered plants will have to begin to deliver power to the utility in January 2023. No details were provided about the auction’s winners and the proportion of solar and wind secured in the procurement exercise.

“With this contracting, the company is widening the portfolio of products offered to its customers in addition to boosting energy generation from renewable sources,” said Copel in a stock market update.

The company owns and operates 19 hydropower plants, a thermal facility and a wind turbine with a combined generation capacity of around 4.7 GW.

Fellow Brazilian utility Cemig, which operates mostly in the state of Minas Gerais, last week concluded its third solar and wind auction and contracted electricity from 196.98 MW of project capacity. During its first renewable energy procurement, held in June 2018, Cemig contracted power from 431 MW of renewable project capacity. In the second, in early October, the utility procured power from a further 152 MW of capacity.