Brazilian mining giant Vale has sold a 70% stake in a renewable power portfolio in the country, generating around US$1 billion in cash.
The portfolio consists of 2.1GW of renewable power assets, including six hydropower plants, three wind farms and the 766MW Sol de Cerrado solar plant in the state of Minas Gerais. Vale reached full commercial operation of the project in 2023, at which point it met 16% of the company’s energy demand in Brazil.
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This renewable power portfolio is owned by Aliança Geração de Energia S.A., a private company that Vale has owned in its entirety since March 2024. While Vale will retain a 30% stake in the company, it has sold the remaining stake to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), an infrastructure fund manager owned by US-headquartered Blackrock.
“We are excited to form this strategic partnership with GIP, enabling us to accelerate Vale’s decarbonisation plan in a more capital-efficient manner,” said Vale CEO Gustavo Pimenta. “This newly formed platform will provide us with competitive renewable solutions as we deliver a future with a lower carbon footprint.”
Last year, Vale reached its target of meeting 100% of its energy demand in Brazil with renewable energy sources, two years ahead of schedule. The company still plans to expand its global clean energy presence further – aiming to increase its share of electricity from renewable sources to 100% by 2030, up from 88.5% today – but has not disclosed plans for the money raised by the divestment from Aliança Geração de Energia S.A..
While Brazil continues to be a leader in the South American solar industry, figures from Wood Mackenzie show that growth in the Brazilian solar sector slowed in 2024, and that distributed projects are an increasingly significant part of the industry. Over the next decade, the analyst expects 48% of all new installations to come from the small-scale sector, projects of less than 5MW.
