In its new Q2 2015 Latin American PV Playbook released on Tuesday, GTM Research noted that 363MW of new operational capacity for utility-scale PV came online in Latin America during the second quarter of 2015.
The new total stands as an 80% improvement year over year, and is the largest quarter for growth in the history of the Latin America market.
En route to bringing several PV projects online, Honduras accounted for 307MW of the region’s quarter totals, with the country’s solar production receiving a boost thanks to a bonus tariff of 10% over the marginal grid cost for installations completed by the end of July.
With 29MW installed, Chile ranked second amongst Latin American markets, followed by Panama (12MW) and Brazil (11MW).
The second quarter also produced new thresholds for construction starts, with 981MW of PV installations undergoing construction across Latin America — a 61% improvement from Q2 2014.
Utility-scale projects are expected to account for 92% of Latin America’s estimated 2.3GW of total solar installations this year, while GTM also expects Latin America to install a total of 2.6GW of commercial and industrial PV by 2020.
Adam James, senior analyst at GTM, said: “Commercial users tend to pay the highest retail electricity rates in almost every Latin American country. With its attractive prices and easier access to capital, the market will grow quickly from its small base today.”
