Solar power plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Approximate location -17.34, -47.25.
SolarMinas GeraisBrazilPV
Paracatu is a 120 MW solar power station in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is operated by Engie Brasil Energia SA. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 51k homes (estimated). It ranks #284 of 2,572 Brazil power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2019, it is around 7 years old — recently built. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 11.8% of Brazil's electricity; the national grid averages 110 gCO₂/kWh (88.7% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WKS0071304.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 120 MW, Paracatu is well above the median solar plant in Brazil (72 MW). Technically it is described as PV. Solar PV converts sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts or fuel; output varies by time of day and weather, so it pairs with storage or flexible backup.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Engie Brasil Energia SA.
This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 17.3°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 100% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 13/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 0.0% at warm-season highs here (estimate).
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #7 largest solar power plant of 24 in Brazil by capacity.
Brazil has 24 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 1,825 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -17.34, -47.25 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Paracatu is a 120 MW source-record solar power plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil, commissioned in 2019.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 51,058 homes (estimated).
Paracatu is operated by Engie Brasil Energia SA.
