Axia Energia Launches Concentrated Solar Power Plant and Hybrid Renewable Facilities in Northeastern Brazil With $31 Million Investment

The central concentrated solar power facility at the Centro de Referencia de Energia Renovable de Petrolina employs heliostat mirrors, high-efficiency photovoltaic modules, and thermal storage to generate 1 MW of electrical capacity and 2.2 MW of thermal energy simultaneously. The tower-based system enables investigations into long-duration storage and industrial heat applications, serving as a platform for testing solutions that combine renewable generation with digital infrastructure including data center operations and industrial refrigeration systems. The project received 74 million reais through 2026, with 67.9 million reais sourced from the national electricity agency’s research and development program overseen by ANEEL.

In Casa Nova, northern Bahia, Axia deployed the Casa Nova Smart Hybrid Plant integrating wind generation, solar photovoltaics, lithium battery storage, and a data center. The facility combines a 1 MW solar array, a 1.5 MW wind turbine, a 1 MW/1.4 MWh battery system, and a 1 MW data center under an 85 million reais investment framework also funded through ANEEL’s innovation mechanism. According to Axia’s technology and innovation director Juliano Dantas, the installation enables research into renewable source integration, energy storage, power quality, and new operational models, representing one of the world’s largest open-air renewable energy research infrastructures.

A third component consists of an 0.8 MWp floating solar pilot plant on the Sobradinho hydroelectric reservoir in Bahia, generating an estimated 1.3 GWh annually. The system incorporates IoT sensors for continuous performance monitoring and connects to the medium-voltage distribution network, allowing evaluation of emerging technology integration under real operational conditions.

Axia Energia, the former state-owned Eletrobras privatized in 2022, ranks among Brazil’s largest electricity companies with generation and transmission assets concentrated in renewable sources. The company positions these projects as foundational for developing technologies aimed at increasing grid flexibility, expanding energy storage capacity, and integrating renewable generation with digital infrastructure—areas identified as strategic for advancing Brazil’s energy matrix. The northeastern location leverages high solar irradiation levels that have attracted concentrated solar power development since at least 2015, when early experimental installations began emerging in the region. Previous government-backed initiatives through German development cooperation established Petrolina as a focal point for solar thermal research between 2013 and 2017, creating institutional groundwork for commercial-scale deployments.