By STEVEN GRATTAN
BOGOTA, Colombia — Wind and solar power generated more than a third of Brazil’s electricity in August, the first month on record the two renewable sources have crossed that threshold, according to government data made public on Thursday and analyzed by energy think tank Ember.
The clean energy sources accounted for 34% of the country’s electricity generation last month, producing a monthly record of 19 terawatt-hours (TWh), enough to power about 119 million average Brazilian homes for a month, Ember told The Associated Press.
That surpassed the previous high of 18.6 TWh set in September 2024. The milestone came as hydroelectric output, Brazil’s dominant power source, fell to a four-year low.
“Brazil shows how a rapidly growing economy can meet its rising need for electricity with solar and wind,” said Raul Miranda, Ember’s global program director based in Rio de Janeiro.
“Solar and wind are a perfect match for Brazil’s hydropower resources, taking the pressure off in drought years. A diversified mix is a fundamental strategy for tackling risks related to climate change,” he said.
Hydropower dips, fossil fuels stay low
Hydropower provided 48% of electricity in August, only the second month on record it has supplied less than half of Brazil’s power. Despite the weak hydro output, fossil fuel plants, mainly powered by natural gas, coal and oil, accounted for just 14% of generation, or 7.8 TWh. In past drought years, fossil fuel use has spiked to cover shortfalls, reaching 26% in August 2021.
Ember said the rapid growth of wind and solar helped Brazil avoid similar surges this year.
Wind and solar power are also reshaping the country’s energy mix. In 2024, they generated 24% of Brazil’s electricity, more than double their share from five years earlier. Solar power grew from just over 1% of generation in 2019 to 9.6% in 2024, while wind climbed from 8.8% to 15% over the same period.
Brazil’s power sector emissions peaked in 2014 and by 2024 had fallen 31% even as electricity demand rose 22%, Ember said. The think tank credited a fifteenfold increase in wind and solar generation with outpacing demand growth and cutting fossil generation by 45%.
Praise and warnings
Ricardo Baitelo, project coordinator at Brazil’s Institute for Energy and the Environment, said the record reflects more than a decade of steady growth in wind and solar capacity, with solar expanding rapidly in recent years.
“This is a number that was expected, because the installed capacity of these sources has been built over at least 15 years and, more recently, with solar energy,” he said. “But it is undoubtedly symbolic, and you see these sources contributing a significant fraction of electricity at a given moment and showing that they are important. They are not alternative sources, they are already a well-represented part of Brazil’s electricity mix.”
He said the milestone highlights Brazil’s shift from an almost entirely hydro-based power system to one built on three main pillars: hydro, solar and wind. He added that Brazil is the only G20 country currently on track to meet the goal of sharply increasing renewable energy within the next five years — a target set at the U.N. COP28 climate summit in Dubai in 2023.
“This is the big warning and a yellow light that could turn red,” Baitelo said. “And Brazil needs to take urgent measures to avoid losing this condition and this good example of wind and solar deployment.”
Paulo Pedrosa, president of Abrace Energia, which represents large energy consumers, said Brazil’s heavy reliance on subsidies to expand renewables, particularly residential solar, has created distortions in the power market.
“The excess of renewable energy subsidy models has increased the cost of energy and, ironically, promoted the contracting of expensive thermal energy, which is necessary to keep the system balanced when there is no wind and no sun,” Pedrosa said.
He argued Brazil should focus on using its abundant clean, low-cost energy to boost industrial output and competitiveness while contributing to global decarbonization.
Baitelo warned that without reforms, fossil fuel interests could seize the opportunity to expand thermal generation in upcoming auctions, increasing greenhouse gas emissions even as renewables grow.
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