Home Comerc Energia inaugurated the São João do Paracatu photovoltaic complex, in the municipality of Paracatu, located northwest of the state of Minas Gerais. With investments of approximately R$950 million, the solar park has a capacity of 267 MWp. In commercial operation since December 2023, the venture has among its clients Granha Ligas, one of the largest mining companies in the country, the primary magnesium industrial unit of the RIMA Group, and Valgroup, a reference in the production, conversion and recycling of plastic.
Associate of Think Plastic Brazil, portfolio of solutions for the converted plastic products sector in the internationalization process for target markets, carried out through a partnership between ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) and INP (Brazilian Plastics Institute), Valgroup has a broad international presence.
The plant has around 500,000 photovoltaic modules, distributed over an area of 509 hectares, equivalent to approximately 471 football fields. In the first five months of operation, the complex has already generated more than 275 GWh, an amount corresponding to the energy consumed by cities with more than 480 thousand inhabitants, such as Niterói (RJ). In one year, São João do Paracatu is expected to avoid the emission of approximately 162 thousand tons of CO2 into the atmosphere and that the project will be capable of generating approximately 145 thousand carbon credits per year.
“It is a pleasure to inaugurate another project in Minas Gerais, a state that is at the forefront of solar energy and that has been playing a very important role in Brazil’s energy transition. Comerc Energia has become one of the largest generators of renewable energy in the country, very due to so many important assets in this state”, says Andre Dorf, CEO of Comerc Energia. “Thanks to the portfolio of more than 2 GW of installed capacity, we can support the decarbonization journey of some of the largest companies in Brazil, and this signals that we are playing well in our role of being one of the main decarbonization agents in the country”, he concludes.
One of the partners in the plant, Valgroup, will reach 65% of its production supplied by wind and solar energy. The company already acquires 39% of its energy demand through wind energy, from another generator, and now, contributing to the increase in scope 2 decarbonization – CO2 emissions related to energy expenditure –, it adds another 26% from solar energy.
“This partnership with Comerc for the generation of renewable energy meets the values that represent Valgroup and the purpose of raising society’s quality of life. Furthermore, it is fully integrated with our initiatives and the robust sustainable positioning we have, such as reducing our scopes 1, 2 and 3, minimizing carbon emissions and recycling the equivalent of the amount of packaging we produce, effectively contributing to the circular economy. A movement by Valgroup that began in 2023, in partnership with Casa dos Ventos to supply energy via a wind farm, and which is now gaining strength with the generation of energy via a solar plant”, highlights Eduardo Berkovitz, Director of Institutional Relations and Compliance at Valgroup.
Expertise and excellence acquired in renewables
In the coming weeks, with the entry into commercial operation of UFV Várzea, with 118 MWp of installed capacity in Várzea da Palma (MG), the last Centralized Generation solar plant in its 2021 business plan, Comerc Energia, will reach the 2.1 GW of installed capacity, including its Centralized and Distributed Solar Generation and Wind assets.
Along with the agility of implementation, Comerc Energia stands out for the efficiency of its projects, appearing on the list of the 20 most efficient solar plants in Brazil in 9 of the 12 months of 2023, being the only one to reach 1st place twice as the most efficient plant in the ePowerBay ranking.
About Think Plastic Brazil
Think Plastic Brazil began its activities with 38 companies and, over the last 20 years, has expanded its participation to more than 220 companies. During this period, the Portfolio promoted 4,773 participations by companies in the sector in 240 specifically Commercial Promotion projects, resulting in 64,366 meetings. The economic impact was significant, with over US$1.247 billion in business generated and a total investment of US$12.338 million, achieving an impressive ROI of US$101.04 for every dollar invested.
For those interested in joining the Portfolio, please contact Richard Assis via email at richard.assis@thinkplasticbrazil.com or visit the website thinkplasticbrazil.com
About ApexBrasil
The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) works to promote Brazilian products and services abroad and attract foreign investment to strategic sectors of the Brazilian economy. To achieve its objectives, ApexBrasil carries out diversified trade promotion actions aimed at promoting exports and valuing Brazilian products and services abroad, such as prospective and commercial missions, business rounds, support for the participation of Brazilian companies in major international fairs, visits of foreign buyers and opinion makers to learn about the Brazilian production structure, among other business platforms that also aim to strengthen the Brazil brand.
The Agency also works in a coordinated manner with public and private actors to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to Brazil, focusing on strategic sectors for developing the competitiveness of Brazilian companies and the country.
About INP
Founded in 1989, the Brazilian Plastics Institute (INP) emerged amid the process of globalization and the need to make the plastics market more competitive internationally. Its strength and representation are due to the union of the Brazilian Association of the Plastic Industry (ABIPLAST), the Brazilian Association of the Chemical Industry (ABIQUIM) and the Union of Synthetic Resin Industries in the State of São Paulo (SIRESP).
The objective of INP, as a sectoral technological entity, is to be the backbone of the entire plastic production chain in Brazil. To this end, the entity maintains an extensive workforce qualification program, promotes access to the most modern technologies, especially for small and medium-sized companies, and develops Technical Standards for the manufacture of better quality products.
About Comerc Energia
Comerc Energia is the most complete platform for renewable energy and decarbonization solutions in Brazil. With more than 20 years of experience and a portfolio under management consisting of around 4,700 consumption units, the group is the market share leader in management in the free energy market with 17% of consumers, and in 2023 recorded net operating revenue of R$4.5 billion. Comerc Energia’s structure is anchored in four business verticals that bring together in its portfolio centralized renewable generation, distributed generation, energy trading, energy efficiency, sectorized measurement and consumer management in the free market, which make the path to decarbonization for companies more concrete, assertive and achievable.
About Valgroup
For more than 45 years in the market, Valgroup has become a reference in the production, conversion and recycling of plastic, with operations in Brazil, Colombia, Spain, the United States, Italy, Mexico and Uruguay, with more than 7,000 employees working in 41 production plants and 7 logistics plants. A consolidated company, with the purpose of raising society’s quality of life through innovative and sustainable packaging solutions.
