Market Effects of Wind and Solar Growth in Brazil: Price and Regulation Signals, Curtailment, and the Role of Hydropower Flexibility

Over the last decade, Brazil’s power sector has experienced a rapid expansion of variable renewable energy (VRE), particularly wind and solar photovoltaic generation, alongside the growth of distributed generation (DG). Driven by regulatory incentives and declining technology costs, this expansion has been largely supported by the liberalized bilateral market rather than centralized planning, introducing new challenges for system operation, market efficiency, and investment signals.