Brazil’s vast electricity market, the largest in Latin America, is the envy of the world with renewables contributing more than 80% of the country’s installed capacity of 121,823 megawatts (MW). Brazil is blessed with the third largest hydroelectric potential in the world, after China and Russia, and has put it to good use with hydropower contributing 85% of renewable electricity generation capacity.
As Brazil’s population continues to grow, the country will need to increase power generation every year by roughly 5 gigawatts. In order to meet growing demand for power, the government is expanding generation capacity through new renewable sources, such as wind and solar power, while at the same time diversifying away from hydro due to environmental concerns.