Brazilian Regulators Intend To Reduce Net Metering And Introduce Grid Costs

Since the power regulator ANEEL proposed to reduce payments to small solar power projects, the Brazilian solar industry has faced the most serious challenge since its foundation nine years ago.

Regulators are discussing ways to reduce the amount of electricity that can be fed to the grid by PV array owners with power generation below 75 kW and 75 kW to 5 MW units. Although discussions on reducing such net metering payments have continued for some time, the domestic solar industry is still amazed after regulators have also proposed net fee participation for net metering participants.

The proposed changes, if implemented, will take effect next year and will amend the laws enacted in 2012. The consultation period for the proposal will end on November 30th. Politicians have expressed opposition to this issue because of fears that this may hinder Brazil's boom in the solar market for two years.

André Pepitone, head of ANEEL, said: “Regulators need to balance regulation to ensure that consumers who rely solely on the grid are not affected by consumers who generate electricity themselves. Costs must be fairly distributed. This is where the regulators are responsible.”

Brazilian industry association ABSOLAR said the proposal ignores the benefits of distributed generation to the grid and to power consumers.

Regulators have suggested that net metering plan participants registered before the new regulations are issued will receive their credit limit until 2030, although media reports speculate that ANEEL can extend this guarantee for 25 years.

Year-end rebound

Marcio Takata, CEO of Brazilian consulting firm Greener, said the proposed measures could halve the growth in the field of distributed generation solar energy.

Takata told Photovoltaics: “In the early stages of the market, falling demand will hurt the efficiency of the supply chain and at the same time undermine the potential to lower end-customer prices. It is very important that regulators should allow the industry to achieve sustainability. The way to develop, to review its proposal to amend the regulations."

Greener pointed out in a recent report that the growth of such small arrays in Brazil is particularly strong – in the first nine months of this year, the total new capacity was 833 megawatts, bringing the cumulative capacity of this segment of the country to 1.42 GW. Tiles, more than doubled. The record growth in new capacity is at least partly due to concerns about tightening the net metering system, which now seems to be a foregone conclusion.