EDP, a company that operates in all segments of the electricity sector, has signed a two-year contract with GPA, the retail group that owns the Pão de Açúcar and Extra retail brands, for the generation of solar energy in the shared distributed generation model. In total, 40 units of Minuto Pão de Açúcar stores located in the state of São Paulo will receive renewable energy credits.
The contract provides for the supply of 16.8 GWh (701.85 MWh/month), from 2024 to 2026, from photovoltaic plants located in the municipalities of Lorena, Santa Adélia, Leme, Pirangi and Iperó, in the interior of São Paulo state. With the transaction, GPA should avoid the emission of 648.5 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) by the end of the contract.
This partnership strengthens GPA's sustainability strategy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, one of the company's priority areas. "Our goal is to increasingly evolve in the environmental management of our business, seeking sustainable and efficient solutions, not only in the energy field – as we are doing with EDP – but throughout the production chain. By choosing to use energy from photovoltaic plants, we reinforce the importance of the energy transition to lower impact and low-carbon grids," explains Renata Amaral, Sustainability Manager at GPA.
"The closing of this contract with one of the main groups in the food retail sector in Brazil reinforces our strategy to lead solar distributed generation and the energy transition in the country. We have invested in the expansion of our solar generation capacity, seeking to strengthen the package of renewable energy products available to our customers and contributing to more and more companies decarbonizing their businesses and having more sustainable operations," says Carlos Andrade, Vice President of Customer Solutions at EDP in South America.
Investments in distributed solar generation
As part of its strategy to lead the energy transition, EDP has been making investments in distributed solar generation in Brazil. By 2026, the company expects to reach an installed capacity of around 500 MWp, with annual investments of approximately R$ 600 million. Currently, EDP has 90 distributed generation solar plants in Brazil, with a total installed capacity of 258 MWp. Of this total, 76 plants (209 MWp) are in operation, 89 MWp of which are dedicated to shared distributed generation. Another 14 plants (49 MWp) are under construction or awaiting energization.
