A few days ago, the European Solar Energy Industry Association released the “Global Market Outlook Report” and pointed out that in 2021. The newly installed photovoltaic power generation capacity in Latin America will be 9.6 million kilowatts, an increase of 44%. By the end of 2021, the installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation in Latin America has exceeded 30 million kilowatts, an increase of more than 40 times compared with 2015.
Driven by policies, the photovoltaic market in Latin America will continue to improve. By 2026, the installed photovoltaic capacity in the region is expected to increase by 30.8 million kilowatts per year. At present, about 25% of the energy supply in Latin America comes from renewable energy, mainly hydropower and biomass power generation. With the increasing demand for emission reduction and economic recovery, the development of photovoltaics has gradually become an important task in the region. Among them, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and other countries regard the development of renewable energy represented by photovoltaics as the main driving force for economic growth, and put forward green development plans or related initiatives.
Brazil is the first country in Latin America to deploy renewable energy through bidding for centralized photovoltaic power plants. According to the statistics of the Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association (AB Solar), by June 2022, Brazil’s cumulative photovoltaic installed capacity reached 16.4GW, of which the installed capacity from January to June this year reached 2.7GW. At the same time, electricity prices in Brazil continued to rise, and statistics showed that the increase last year reached 20%-25%. The high electricity bill has also boosted the installed capacity of local new energy represented by photovoltaics. Brazil expected to become the fourth largest photovoltaic demand destination in the world this year.
The photovoltaic market of Colombia, another major economy in Latin America, is also in a stage of accelerated development. Previously, an important factor limiting the development of the photovoltaic industry in Colombia was the underdeveloped transmission network. In 2019, Colombia launched the transformation and upgrading of the power grid. At present, market conditions have been improved to a certain extent, and energy companies have invested in photovoltaic projects.
Chile also has good light conditions. Up to now, the installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation in Chile has exceeded 3 million kilowatts. And the new installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation is about 500 thousand kilowatts every year, and the growth is stable. According to the plan of the Chilean government, in order to achieve the carbon reduction goal, Chile will add at least 6 million kilowatts of renewable energy installed capacity in the future.
Industry insiders predict that the newly installed capacity of global photovoltaic power generation will exceed the 200 million kilowatt mark for the first time this year, setting a new record. The European Solar Energy Industry Association predicts that by 2026, Latin America, especially Brazil, will become the main market for new installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation in the world.