Developers of the majority of projects awarded in Brazil’s first solar-only tender round in 2014 have submitted a request to the regulator to delay construction by two years, according to a report.
Canadian Solar, Renova Energia and four other unnamed developers wrote to Aneel, Brazil’s national electrical energy agency, citing market conditions as the reason for the request, Reuters news agency reported on Friday.
The agency said this constituted nearly 80% of all projects approved in that auction, around 790MW of capacity. Reuters said it had seen the letter which blamed a currency slump and shortage of local suppliers. The developers have requested a two year extension to projects that were expected to begin in 2017.
Brazil’s first solar-only reserve auction was held in October 2014. PV Tech reported at the time that it had seen “fierce competition”, with 31 projects approved at an average price of US$90 per MWh. This was around 18% lower than prices previously seen in that market at the time.
A subsequent solar-only auction held in August of last year saw ANEEL cap prices at US$104 per MWh, around 33% higher than the 2014 average price.