Trina expects Brazil solar tracker demand of 9GW

Solar tracker manufacturer Trina Solar expects demand in Brazil for its product to reach 9GW of installed capacity this year, the firm's head for Latin America, Marcus Fabrino, told BNamericas. 

The forecast volume is in line with last year’s, and Fabrino estimates that 60-70% will come from centralized generation (CG) projects and the remainder from distributed generation (DG). 

The trackers are manufactured at the company's plant in Bahia state, which opened in 2023 with an annual capacity to produce 2.5GW of equipment. 

The aim of opening the factory was to serve projects that use financing from Brazilian development bank BNDES. 

“I’d say that more than 80% of the market use this [credit] line,” said Fabrino. 

“As Brazil is a strategic country in Latin America, it was essential to invest in the plant in order to compete and participate in projects.”

Although CG represents the largest volume of orders, demand for DG is growing strongly and there has been a rush to connect new projects with fee exemption from using the energy grid, said Fabrino.

Many CG projects ended up being postponed due to the low price of energy, reflecting the country's favorable hydrological conditions – a scenario that is beginning to change after a summer with below-average rainfall. 

In addition to manufacturing, the Bahia plant has the capacity to store up to 100MW of trackers for fast delivery, as well as components and parts to provide post-sale support.  

According to Fabrino, exporting to other Latin American markets has not been ruled out.

“This will depend on the macroeconomic situation, considering, for example, international freight prices and exchange rates. For now, from what we've already evaluated, we saw that it was worth using our chain in China,” he said. 

Trina has a distribution center in Chile and is now looking at the installation of another distribution center in the region, possibly in Argentina or Colombia.  

The company ranks third in the Latin American market for trackers, with a 10% share. 

“Last year, we were fifth. Our investments have helped us to increase our market share and we will continue to invest in the region to keep growing,” said Fabrino.