CGNBE’s Lagoinha Complex Begins Testing, Boosting Ceará’s Solar Momentum

• CGN Brazil Energy starts test operation of the 165 MW Lagoinha Solar Complex in Ceará—R$650 m project will power 240 k homes and anchor wider renewable plans.

Brazil has switched on another large slice of sunshine. CGN Brazil Energy (CGNBE) has received the green light from federal regulator Aneel to start test runs at its 165-MW Lagoinha Solar Complex in Russas, Ceará, marking the Chinese group’s first home-grown solar build in Latin America.

The permission, published in the 12 June edition of the government gazette, initially covers three of the project’s four units—Lagoinha II, III and IV—totalling 124 MW. But engineers completed “energisation” of the entire site in the early hours of 17 June, sending first electrons onto the local grid and setting the clock ticking on a 180-day trial period before full commercial operation.

Lagoinha sits on 304 hectares of semi-arid scrubland and hosts around 337,000 bifacial modules that follow the sun on single-axis trackers. Once fully ramped, the plant is expected to deliver about 370 GWh of electricity a year—enough to power 240,000 Brazilian homes and avoid roughly 150,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually.

The R$650-million (USD 125 million) investment broke ground in December 2023 and generated more than 700 construction jobs at peak. CGNBE sourced the panels and inverters from Chinese manufacturers using the first yuan-denominated trade-finance package ever arranged for a Brazilian solar project, a 160-million-yuan facility led by ICBC Brazil.

Management says the complex is a template for a 1.4-GW renewable hub the company plans across the Northeast, pairing additional solar with wind and storage. “Lagoinha proves we can move from licensing to first megawatt in 18 months—even under Brazil’s strict environmental rules,” CGNBE chief executive Wen Xia told staff in an internal memo seen by local media. The firm already operates 450 MW of brownfield PV in Piauí and Bahia but views greenfield builds as its fastest growth lever.

The launch strengthens Ceará’s bid to become a clean-power exporter to neighbouring states and to upcoming green-hydrogen corridors. State officials hailed the test as “strategic” for hitting the region’s goal of installing 2 GW of new solar by 2027. With wholesale power prices softening and corporate PPAs on the rise, Lagoinha’s merchant output is expected to attract buyers in Brazil’s free market as soon as it clears commissioning later this year.