Norwegian independent power producer (IPP) Scatec has started commercial operations at its 142MW Rio Urucuia solar PV plant in Brazil.
Located in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, this is the third operational solar PV project for the IPP in the country, bringing its installed PV capacity to 835MW.
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The IPP previously secured a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with fellow Norwegian energy company Statkraft. The offtake agreement will cover nearly 75% of the solar PV plant’s electricity generation, with the remainder of the production to be sold in the spot market and under short, medium and long-term PPAs.
Operations and maintenance, as well as asset management for the solar PV plant, will be carried in-house by Scatec.
“We are pleased to begin generating electricity from our third solar project in Brazil, expanding our power generation in the country. As our first plant in the southeast submarket, where power demand is strong, Rio Urucuia is diversifying our Brazilian footprint,” says Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog.
The start of commercial operations of the 142MW Rio Urucuia solar plant comes two years after it began operations of its second Brazilian PV project, the 531MW Mendubim in the northern state of Rio Grande do Norte. Unlike the second project, which was a joint venture between oil and gas firm Equinor and renewables Hydro Rein, the Rio Urucuia is 100% owned by Scatec with the aim of bringing in equity partners.
Moreover, solar PV growth in Brazil slowed in 2025, with capacity installed dropping from 18.9GW in 2024 to 14.5GW, according to a recent report from trade body SolarPower Europe (SPE). Between 2026-2030, the trade body forecast 67GW of new solar PV in Brazil.
“While the market remains structurally strong, particularly in distributed generation, it is increasingly impacted by grid limitations, curtailment risks and regulatory changes. Future growth will depend more on infrastructure and system integration than demand alone,” wrote SPE.
