In the ranking of most attractive countries for investment in renewable energy generation Brazil comes in 19th place. The list was disclosed by international consultancy firm Ernst & Young and also points out that in coming years, the country should grow above the global average in the field, which should range from 15% to 20%.
The top countries in the list are United States, China, Germany, India, Italy and Spain. The latter two are tied.
According to the survey, there are now ten ongoing wind energy projects in Brazil. Their combined capacity is 256.4 megawatts. Aside from those, over 45 projects have already been cleared by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), with a potential to generate 2,139.7 megawatts.
Also in the field of wind energy, multinational corporation Siemens has announced that it is going to build a turbine manufacturing plant in Brazil.
The survey by Ernst & Young also mentions a program implemented by the Brazilian government in 2003, the Incentive Program for Alternative Sources of Electric Power (Proinfra), as being important to the development of alternative energy generation in the country, using sources such as wind, biomass, and small hydroelectric stations.
According to data from the survey, 85.4% of all energy in Brazil comes from renewable sources. One third of all renewable energy in the country comes from hydroelectric plants.
The survey also points to two Arab nations, among other countries, as markets that should emerge and become attractive to renewable energy investment. They are Morocco and Egypt, alongside countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Chile, as well as Eastern Europe and Russia.
According to Ernst & Young, approximately ten years ago, wind energy generation used to total 13 gigawatts, a figure that has risen to 158 gigawatts. Solar energy, in turn, has gone from 1 gigawatt to 20 gigawatts.
The consultancy firm highlights the fact that despite the technical progress achieved in solar and wind energy, the cost of generating those energies is still high, and has not dropped as much as expected over the last ten years.
The survey, however, underscores that renewable energy generation is going to become crucial. In that respect, it cites large-scale projects that should be concluded, such as solar energy generation in North Africa for supplying the European market.
