The verticalization of skills in the free energy market creates added value and increases the return on invested capital, in the view of the president of ASX Energia, Rodolfo de Sousa.
The group set up an energy trading company and will build its first centralized generation project, with an eye on opening the free market to all consumers in the country.
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In the free energy market, the consumer can choose the energy supplier. Currently restricted only to high voltage customers, the expectation is that this option will also be available to low voltage consumers in the coming years.
“There will be a great revolution in the way consumers will look at energy generation and consumption”, says Sousa about the opening of the free market.
ASX plans to invest R$1.8 billion by 2027 to follow the new scenario. The group’s first centralized solar photovoltaic generation plant will be installed in Minas Gerais and will have 180 megawatts (MW) of capacity. Operations are expected to begin in the second half of 2027. The project had access to the benefit of discounted transmission tariffs, applied to incentivized sources.
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Today, the group operates mainly in distributed generation under subscription, a model in which the customer purchases energy credits that are deducted from the distributor’s bill. In total, ASX has 56 plants focused on distributed generation, with an installed capacity of 178 megawatts (MW) in the states of Paraná, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Mato Grosso and Goiás.
In addition to entering centralized generation, the investments will also be used in the construction of another 113 distributed generation plants to reach an installed capacity of 350 MW. The goal is to reach 50 thousand consumers in this business model in the next three years.
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“We end our distributed generation cycle and begin our free market cycle by looking precisely at the opening of the market”, says the executive.
According to Sousa, the expectation is that experience in distributed generation will help in relationships with new free market customers in the coming years.
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“We have a completely digital platform, we know retail, we are used to retail customers. Unlike large retailers, who are much more focused on small accounts or large accounts with a few customers”, he states.
The group intends to follow the expansion plan with the construction of new centralized generation plants after 2028, following the growth of the free market. Future projects, however, should no longer count on the benefits of discounts on transmission tariffs.
“We start with this project that ends in 2027, and then we can start looking at other businesses or acquiring new projects. But I have no doubt that our platform is constantly growing”, he says.
In parallel, ASX also wants to enter the energy storage area, with the Brazilian government expecting to hold an auction for battery projects in 2025. The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) put it out for public consultation in September the draft guidelines for the auction.
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The company is developing four battery projects with a capacity of 200 megawatt-hours each. The expectation is to register the projects in the competition.
“We are going through a very experimental phase, of understanding how this business will run. This is similar to what happened with solar generation 10 years ago, in 2015, and with wind generation in 2009”, says the executive.
According to Sousa, discussions are currently focused on negotiations with manufacturers and the cost of construction and operation of the projects.
“There is a learning curve that involves everyone, it involves investors, creditors who will provide financing, insurers who will provide operating insurance for all of this, engineering companies, construction companies”, he explains.
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