Deal

Solar power plant built by EDP will save Banco do Brasil R$ 82 million

5.0 MW
2018

WEDNESDAY 03, OCTOBER 2018

The winning bid will deploy around 15 thousand photovoltaic panels in Minas Gerais and supply 100% renewable energy to 58 of the bank’s branches

EDP, a company that operates across all segments of the country’s electricity industry, will build a 5 megawatts-peak (MWp) solar power plant for Banco do Brasil in the city of Januaria, northern Minas Gerais. The plant will comfortably generate 11 GWh/per year, which would otherwise be sufficient to power 4.5 thousand households with average consumption of 2,400 kWh/per year. The initiative will help Banco do Brasil save around R$ 82 million over a 15 year period.

Located on a site covering approximately 150 thousand square meters, the venture will be equipped with more than 15 thousand photovoltaic panels and supply 100% renewable energy to 58 Banco do Brasil branches across Minas Gerais. The initiative will avoid over 1 thousand tons of CO2 emissions, based on annual consumption from clean energy sources, which is equivalent to planting over 7 thousand trees. In addition to the project’s environmental importance, the plant will reduce branch energy bills by 58%.

Banco do Brasil plans to build another two plants in Minas Gerais in the next few years and implement the model to the states of Goiás, Distrito Federal, Pará, Maranhão and Bahia.

According to Nilson Martiniano Moreira, Banco do Brasil director of supply, infrastructure and assets, the BB solar power plant will reduce the bank’s environmental footprint and contribute towards a culture of responsible use of natural resources. “Projects such as this confirm the Bank’s commitment to adopting practices that address all aspects of sustainability and also social and environmental criteria across all its processes and businesses”.

EDP has a department dedicated to deploying solar power projects for self-production and distributed generation and will be responsible for designing, operating and maintaining the systems. EDP signed the contract after the Banco do Brasil bidding process was concluded. The plant is forecast to be delivered in the second half of 2019.

“This agreement with Banco do Brasil symbolizes EDP’s growth in the Solar Power sector. This is the Company’s largest Distributed Generation project based on a photovoltaic system lease arrangement, which will serve one of the Country’s largest financial institutions”, said Miguel Setas, President of EDP in Brazil. “In addition to offering an economically competitive model, we offer customers the expertise and reliability of a company that operates across the whole of the electricity industry value chain”, he added.

Solar Power Market

According to the Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Power (ABSOLAR), Minas Gerais is the State with the largest infrastructure for distributed solar power generation - 22.9% of all infrastructure in the country. The survey shows that commercial and service consumers are the biggest photovoltaic solar power consumers, representing 44% of all customers, followed by residential (38%) and industrial consumers (8.4%).

ABSOLAR also revealed that the national installed solar power capacity - both centralized and distributed - should reach 2.5 GW in 2018, up 115% compared to the 1.15 GW reported at the end of 2017.

Largest Energy sales agreement

In the first semester of the year, EDP also signed the Country’s largest retail energy sales contract with Banco do Brasil. This partnership will serve 24 of the Bank’s consumer units, including two commercial buildings in Brasilia, processing centers and the group’s largest corporate centers across Brazil. By adopting the Free Contract Framework (ACL), Banco do Brasil will save around R$ 50 million over 5 years, equivalent to saving over 30% on energy bills at all the units involved.

EDP was one of the first companies to receive a license for retail sales in Brazil. As part of this framework, the Company bears the risks and is responsible for managing the process used to contract energy and operate the ventures it represents on the Free Market, from the changeover process up to management of all procedures involving the Electrical Energy Marketing Chamber (CCEE).

About EDP in Brazil

EDP has over 20 years’ experience and is one of the biggest private-sector companies operating across the entire value chain. The Company has over 10,000 direct and indirect staff and is involved in Energy Transmission, Sales and Solutions. It also operates 15 hydro power plants and one thermal power station. Its Distribution area serves around 3.4 million customers in Sao Paulo and Espírito Santo. The Company recently acquired a stake in CELESC, based in Santa Catarina. In Brazil, the company is noted for its Innovation, Governance and Sustainability and has been included in the B3 Business Sustainability Index (BSI) for 12 consecutive years. "

Source: Brasil