(Bloomberg) — Brazil’s development bank approved a 26
million-real ($9.6 million) loan for a solar-panel factory.
Pure Energy, a unit of the Brazilian builder Cerutti
Engenharia, will use the funds for a plant in the northeastern
state of Alagoas, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico &
Social said in an e-mailed statement today.
Brazil gets less than 1 percent of its electricity from
solar and more than 70 percent from hydroelectric plants. The
country is seeking to promote wider use of photovoltaic systems
as part of an effort to diversify its energy supplies.
The loan will cover about 75 percent of the total
investment in the factory and is BNDES’ first loan for a solar-panel plant, according to the statement.
Pure Energy is also planning a 1-megawatt solar farm to
power the facility.
BNDES didn’t say how many panels the factory will be able
to produce and Pure Energy didn’t immediately respond to a phone
call seeking comment.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Vanessa Dezem in Sao Paulo at
vdezem@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Will Wade, Robin Saponar