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According to Clean Energy Latin America (CELA) mapping, data centers have closed 11 agreements for the long-term supply of energy from solar and wind sources in the last three years.
Long-term contracts on the free market for renewable energy to supply data centres in Brazil have totalled an average of 330 MW over the past three years, for an estimated transaction value of around R$7.7 billion (US$1.34 billion). This was recently revealed by the consultancy firm CELA (Clean Energy Latin America), specialising in financial advice and strategic consulting for companies and investors in the renewable energy sector in Brazil and around the world.
CELAs unprecedented assessment, based on an analysis of deals between renewable generators and data centers between 2021 and 2024, reveals a total of 11 long-term contracts signed, seven of which are assigned to the self-production model and another four to the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) system, signed between consumers and renewable energy generators that negotiate in the Free Contracting Environment (ACL), also known as the free energy market.
“This is a very significant volume of long-term contracts with data centers in Brazil, considering the short term of the agreements, three years, for a sector that is beginning to emerge in the country as a major demander of clean, competitive and renewable energy,” says CELA Executive Director Camila Ramos. “Brazil is today an important hub for the development of the renewable energy market for data centers and new artificial intelligence and green hydrogen technologies, given the high competitiveness and availability of solar and wind sources in the global market,” she adds.
CELA itself has been working intensively with data centers on energy solutions projects, including the procurement of renewable energy, all under the self-production model. And the companys outlook is to serve an even larger number next year in this area, including international players seeking to establish and expand their operations in Brazil.
Beyond the data center
At the beginning of the year, CELA mapped the total number of long-term contracts in the free energy market in the last year, totaling 23 agreements between generators and large consumers from various economic sectors. These transactions are equivalent to 969 average MW (MWm) contracted, which represents an increase of 63% compared to the previous year, when 594 MWm were registered.
In 2023, the volume of PPAs signed by financial institutions amounted to R$5.4 billion, according to the CELA report. The number of contracts decreased slightly, from 27 agreements in 2022 to 23 the following year.
Since the first edition of the CELA report in 2017, 140 long-term wind and solar PPAs have been mapped in the ACL, representing an installed capacity of 14.3 GW. The total of these contracts is equivalent to 4,147 MW, of which 2,431 MW are solar and another 1,717 MW are wind. |
