Brazil suspends A-5 energy auction

From pv magazine Latam

Brazil's Electric Power Chamber of Commerce (CCEE) announced this week that the A-5 energy auction scheduled for September 16 has been suspended and that it is now investigating the causes and effects of the event.

A new schedule of auction activities is to be published soon. Through the procurement exercise, the Brazilian authorities will select power projects that will have to begin generating power from January 2027.

A total of 1,345 solar projects had registered to participate in the A-5 auction, with a capacity of 55,822 MW, 67.2% of the total registered for the auction, 83,005 MW, which included five other generation sources. The ceiling price for the exercise was set at BRL 280 ($53.3)/MWh

The state of Minas Gerais has the largest share in photovoltaic project proposals for the auction, with 328 bids totaling 14,268 MW. It was followed by Rio Grande do Norte, with 6,158 MW (142 solar projects); Bahia, 9,900 MW (250 projects); Piauí, 7,881 MW (208 projects); and Ceará, 5,621 (150 projects).

In the last auction in which solar projects participated, the A-4 held in May, an average of 39.8 MW was sold at an average price of BRL 178/MWh ($34.74/MWh), with the maximum at BRL 225/MWh ($43.91/MWh).

In August, the Ministry of Mines and Energy canceled the A-6 auction, which would have contracted energy from 2028, citing a lack of demand from energy distributors. It would have have been held jointly with the A-5 auction. Prior to the announcement, Absolar had filed a lawsuit requesting the participation of solar projects in the A-6, which was not planned.