Brazil, Chile advance in terms of renewables attractiveness

Jun 3, 2014 - Brazil entered the top 10 in the latest “all renewables” country attractiveness index by Ernst & Young, mainly thanks to an upcoming solar-only government auction, while Chile climbed to the 13th spot with the help of its planned carbon tax.

In the previous issue of the index, Brazil ranked 12th and Chile occupied the 14th spot.

Later this year Brazil will hold its first auction focused only on solar energy. According to multinational consultancy Ernst & Young, 3 GW to 5 GW of new solar capacity is expected. Meanwhile, more than 12 GW of Brazilian wind energy projects are lining up for an auction in June.

As for Chile, it has proposed a tax of USD 5 (EUR 3.68) per ton of emitted carbon dioxide for all power plants bigger than 50 MW. The country has already attracted many solar project developers and the constant flow of project approvals also supported its ascend in the Ernst & Young index. French oil and gas group Total SA (EPA:FP) is to invest over USD 300 million in a 150-MW solar park in Chile, while Irish firm Mainstream Renewable Power and US company First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) got an environmental nod in March for more than 250 MW of photovoltaic (PV) projects.

Further down in the “all renewables” index, Mexico stole the 25th place from Peru. In Mexico, project activity is speeding up and the country is also preparing to launch geothermal capacity tenders. It aims to install 2 GW of geothermal power plants by the end of the decade. In the previous edition of the index, Mexico ranked 27th.

The US, China, Germany, Japan and Canada were the five most appealing renewable markets in the first quarter of 2014. The Ernst & Young index for the period was published yesterday.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.735)

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