Meincol guarantees solar power

In sunny Brazil, the photovoltaic industry is increasingly gaining traction and aiming high. voestalpine Meincol plays a leading role in the domestic PV market, supplying an incredible 50% of the tubes and sections for the gigawatts of solar power being generated.

Brazil is blessed with sunshine. What is a boon for agriculture and tourism is also proving increasingly important for sustainable energy production. Current and future activities range from smaller resident and community models for generating solar power of less than 5 MWp to centralized mega-projects of 1 GWp and more. 

Photovoltaic growth in Brazil

“Photovoltaic installations provide 2.6% of our country’s central energy supply,” explained Ermir Panazzolo, Managing Director of voestalpine Meincol. “An ambitious target of 5% has been set for two years’ time, and the goal is to reach 15% by 2030.” Prior to 2016, Brazil did not have a single solar power project.Now it is a booming industry, and all major international PV operators are present in the country. One of the biggest Brazilian projects is Futura, which is being built thousands of kilometers from Caxias do Sul, where voestalpine Meincol is based. Futura I, the first expansion phase, is being implemented since 2021 and its size is impressive: Nearly 20,000 trackers have been erected over more than 16 km²—an area larger than 4,000 soccer pitches. Tracker systems that adapt to the status of their energy supplier help to maximize the yield of sustainable electrical energy. Futura is expected to generate a maximum output of 852 MW.

voestalpine Meincol relies on photovoltaics

Between April 2021 and March 2022, voestalpine Meincol delivered 27,000 tons of tubes, open sections, and welded components for multiple solar projects. “The commitment of the Caxias do Sul team combined with the product portfolio and the process technology has created the reliability that makes us an important partner for solar tracker manufacturers,” said Technical Director Antonio Cali, underscoring the site’s performance. Ever since the Brazilian voestalpine company first participated in the Intersolar South America exhibition, its delivery volumes have been growing steadily and have increased forty-fold in the five years since 2017. “Photovoltaics accounted for 28% of our sales in the business year 2021/22,” said Ermir Panazzolo, quantifying the success. The future looks bright for Meincol—there are plans to expand centralized solar power generation in Brazil to nearly 62 GW in the coming years.