The Government has been under pressure from companies to vote on the bill that proposes taxing the sun. The text, which refers to solar energy in GD, has already been released and entered the plenary agenda several times in the last week alone

The discussion in the Government about the new PL, which proposes the taxation of the sun for distributed generation, in which consumers install solar energy panels on the roof of their homes or in their companies, has led to sectoral pressure on deputies regarding how they should be the subsidies that benefit the renewable source sector. Due to the great expansion of solar energy in the country, the topic has gained relevance quickly.

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The growth of GD in Brazil

The installed power in Brazil of 1.160 MW, in 2017, went to 8.813 MW today. 62% of this installed power comes from distributed generation. The PL that establishes the new regulatory framework provides for a change to end cross-subsidy by the solar energy rules that were drawn up in 2012.

The term for the end of this subsidy varies between one and eight years, however, it stipulates that the projects come into force within one year after the approval of the PL.

Understand why companies want so much the approval of the PL that proposes the taxation of solar energy

Those who adhere to the DG model connect their solar energy panels to a power distribution system. The consumer uses the entire infrastructure of the distributor. An example is a residence with a solar energy roof, which feeds the distributor's network and accumulates credits for this energy for up to 60 months.

The distributor supplies energy even when there is no generation by the residence, such as during the night and during rainy days. Companies pressure the Government for the approval of the PL, which proposes the taxation of the sun, or rather solar energy, due to the large distributors not having any type of remuneration for the solar energy generators that are connected to their networks by the GD model .

Pressure on the Government to speed up the PL voting

Investors and entrepreneurs in the distributed generation sector, who are in favor of the PL, propose the taxation of solar energy and are pressuring the Government to vote on the text in the coming days. The text, which follows on an urgent basis, has not yet been analyzed by any committee and has already left and entered the agenda of the plenary several times in the last week.

If the Government approves the bill that proposes the taxation of solar energy, it will go to the Senate. This discussion about the end of the benefit of solar energy users in the DG segment was started by National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) in 2019. At the time, Aneel proposed a series of possibilities for the benefits to be reduced, according to the company itself, by around BRL 55 billion between the years 2020 and 2035.