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According to Desperta Energia, the investment in a 75 kW plant costs around 50 thousand to 58 thousand dollars, depending on the region and the equipment used, and can generate income from leasing the plant of between 780 and 1,300 dollars per month.
Solar generation is an opportunity for landowners in Brazil, who face a problem of degradation of planted grasses in the country. A study carried out by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (Embrapa) in February 2024 showed that there are approximately 28 million hectares of planted grasses with intermediate and severe levels of degradation in Brazil. Additionally, Brazil has a total of 177 million hectares of pastures, of which 109.7 million have moderate to severe limitations. The Ministry of Agriculture states that it wants to convert 40 million of these hectares into agricultural areas within ten years.
In this scenario, leasing land for solar energy plants is emerging as a profitable and sustainable alternative, capable of generating income for land owners, especially in areas of low or no productivity.
The Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association (Absolar) reveals that the country has reached the expressive mark of 42 gigawatts (GW) of installed power from solar energy, consolidating itself as the second largest source of electricity and 18% of the electrical matrix national. The rural sector, for its part, increases year after year its participation in distributed solar generation in Brazil, representing more than 14% of distributed generation (DG) in Brazil, or 4 GW of the 29 GW installed in this modality in total , although its production units represent less than 9% of GDs mini and micro plants, or 223,000 of 2.5 million.
“It is an alternative for those who have a surface with low productivity or that is not being used economically, but also for rural producers who want to have a stable and attractive income from their lands. On average, power plants under GD 2 legislation, which are projects presented after January 7, 2023, record a return above financial investments, even considering the progressive increase in taxation provided for in the legislation. For projects registered under the GD 1 call (before January 7, 2023) the return is even higher, and can exceed 20% annually depending on the region where the plant is located,” explains Marciliano Freitas, CEO of Desperta. Energia, a technology-based company focused on the distributed energy generation segment. This is the return for the investor-owner of the plant, who has to invest in the project and assume the operating costs, such as insurance, maintenance, etc.
For example, investing in a 75 kW power plant currently costs between $50,000 and $58,000, depending on the region and the equipment used, and can generate income from renting the power plant of between $780 and $1,300 per month. (between 9,360 and 15,600 dollars per year during the first year of operation), always variable depending on the characteristics of the generation capacity of the specific project and the tariff conditions of the area where the plant is installed.
The profitability obtained by simply renting land to install a third-party project is lower, around $390 per hectare depending on the region, but it is still attractive for low-productive areas, since it is an income that does not require any investment to obtain it. “The income from leasing land for a solar energy plant provides a stable income, unlike other rural income that usually occurs during harvest times or animal sales, helping the propertys cash flow to be more harmonious, helping to pay the fixed expenses of the property at times when there is no income,” concludes Marciliano.
The lease of land for a solar power plant is carried out through a rental contract for the surface to be used, with a company or individual, or a cooperative/consumer association, as compensation. In this way, the owner of the land receives economic compensation for the use of it, while the lessor does not have to incur the high costs of acquiring the land to obtain a suitable location for the panels that will generate solar energy, at a lower cost than the energy consumed by electricity companies, within the rules of distributed energy generation. In general, in the case of distributed energy generation, the owners of the plants are consortiums or consumer associations, managed and legally represented by a “lead associate”, which are usually companies specialized in this activity.
“When considering an area in which to install a solar energy plant, rural producers and landowners will be especially attentive to the characteristics of the land for solar exploitation, which will determine the greater or lesser attractiveness of leasing the land. Topography, solar irradiation, the concessionaires tariff structure, accessibility and safety are factors that impact the profitability of the plant and are reflected in lease negotiations,” says Marciliano.
The rural owner can also invest himself in the solar plant, in which case his income will be higher, but in exchange he will have to make the investment. In order to satisfy the demand of investors and rural owners for the installation of solar plants, Desperta Energia has developed Renda Desperta, thinking both of the rural owner interested in simply leasing surfaces, and of those who intend to make the investment, in This case indicating integrators to carry out the project and even financing providers for the construction of the plant. |
