Claro has just entered into an agreement with Neoenergia for the purchase of 911 GWh of renewable energy in the free market over the next twelve years, starting 2022. The consumption will occur in the company’s 30 units, being 868 GWh for Southeast/Midwest submarket and 43 GWh for South submarket. The agreement was entered into under the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) modality, in connection with Luzia solar farm generation, with 149.3 MWdc capacity, fully allocated in the Free Market that has just been announced by Neoenergia.
During this period, this power will be supplied exclusively from solar generation stemming from FV Luzia ballast, a solar project located in Chafariz Wind Complex, in Paraíba state and will generate energy enough to supply over 100 thousand households. The sustainability and reliability guarantee, ensuring that the energy stems from a clean source is a driver for value creation to the customer. From Neoenergia’s point of view, the execution of long-term agreements is able to mitigate the project risk, as revenue is assured for longer time. This type of PPA provides two advantages:
The initiative is part of Claro Energy program, launched in 2017, providing for the use of renewable sources and actions aimed at protecting the environment in all operations and facilities of the telecom company in Brazil. By 2021, the program will generate 80% of the energy consumed by the company, over 600,000 MWh/year. Considered as the largest project in Distributed Generation and the pioneer for telecom organizations in the country, it provides for clean energy generation (solar, hydro, wind, biogas and qualified co-generation) in the energy utilities where it operates, and also includes actions for electric mobility and energy efficiency.
In addition to acquiring energy in the free market, Claro’s Energy also includes power plants in several states, such as Bahia, Goiás, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Pará, Pernambuco, Piauí, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Paraná, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the Federal District, and has facilities in final stage of implementation, as well as projects under construction in other states.
“This partnership reinforces Claro’s commitment with innovation and sustainability. Due to this, the company invests in a proprietary program of renewable energy, with lower cost, that reduces the emission of greenhouse gas emissions”, says Hamilton Ricardo Pereira da Silva, Claro’s Infrastructure Officer.
VALUE CREATIO
In line with Sustainable Development Goals, Neoenergia’s goal is to achieve carbon-free status by 2050. The expansion of its generation park in renewable energy for meeting the needs of the free market is a driver for this strategy. “Consumers are increasingly aware of purchasing clean energy as a driver for value creation. This is our focus. We act to expand more and more our portfolio of wind and solar projects, with a strategic plan for long-term investments. The execution of long-term agreements is part
of this strategy: FV Luzia is born with 20% the energy to be generated during its useful life fully sold”, says Hugo Nunes, Neoenergia’s Liberalized Business officer.
Decarbonization and combating climate change are in the core of the economy resumption. Neoenergia believes that the prioritization of clean sources, such as wind and solar, will play a key role in the major companies. In line with this trend, the group sold over 14 TWh of energy from renewable sources to final customers in the free market in the last 18 months. “In this period, we sold the annual consumption of Pernambuco state to final customers at the Free Market”, says Nunes.
By mid-2020, Neoenergia will triple its installed capacity of wind energy, reaching 1.6 GW, upon the completion of two complexes under development in Northeast region - Chafariz and Oitis (BA and PI). Both projects strengthen the group’s business model, expanding its action in the energy free market. In one of them, Oitis Wind Complex, which will be built in the states of Bahia and Piauí, 96% will be traded on the free market. All this clean and brand-new energy will be supplied with the Renewable Energy Certification (I-REC) to meet an increasing market demand for achieving this certificate.
Neoenergia is trading energy in Brazil for 21 years, since the launching of the free market in the country. This is a market where consumers are able to choose their electric energy supplier. Current rules allow customers with a demand equal to our higher than 500 kW to migrate to the Free Contracting Environment (ACL).
The strategy for operating in the energy renewable sources segment is aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the united Nation, particularly Goal 7 (Accessible and Clean Energy ) and 13 (Action against Global Climate Change), which are the company’s priorities. The volume of clean energy traded worldwide through the so-called PPA modality reached 19.7 GW in 2019, an all-time-high, according with the latest Corporate Energy Market report, of BloombergNEF. In 2020, in spite of the economy downturn caused by covid-19 pandemic, this number reached 8.9 GW as of July, with a highlight for Brazil in Latin America.
SOBRE A CLARO: Latin American leader in Telecom industry, and one of the major multiple service operators in the country, covering all Brazilian regions. It is present in over 4200 Brazilian cities and its networks provide services to over 96% of the population. Claro offers integrated solutions for connectivity, entertainment, productivity and digital services in a truly convergent matter, in multiple wired and mobile platforms. It is leader in Pay TV, broadband and boasts the higher growth in mobile services in the country. Through Embratel, it is also the leader in the segment of corporate services, including offers in cloud, telecom, IT and security for networks and applications. It was the first-mover for the implementation of all mobile internet generations in Brazil, including 4.5G, which enables a 10x faster navigation than the traditional 4G network. It is the leader in connection speed, both for cell phones and residential broadband, with ultra-speed. Claro is part of América Móvil, present in 25 countries, in Latin America and also Europe and the United States.www.claro.com.br.
