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Paracatu

Solar power plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Approximate location -17.34, -47.25.

SolarMinas GeraisBrazil

Paracatu is a 120 MW solar power station in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 51,058 homes (estimated). It ranks #226 of 2,549 Brazil power plants by installed capacity. 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).

120MW installed capacity
51,058homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WKS0071304.

Capacity vs largest solar plants in Brazil

Ituverava: 210 MW210ItuveravaNova Olinda: 210 MW210Nova OlindaBJL ENEL: 158 MW158BJL ENELGuaimbe: 150 MW150GuaimbePirapora I: 150 MW150Pirapora IApodi: 120 MW120ApodiParacatu: 120 MW120ParacatuPirapora II: 115 MW115Pirapora II

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Local climate & thermal context

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.

21.0°Cannual mean temp
2heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,097cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
963 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 22 °CJF: 22 °CFM: 22 °CMA: 22 °CAM: 20 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 18 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 22 °CON: 22 °CND: 22 °CD22 °C

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.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #7 largest solar power plant of 24 in Brazil by capacity.

Brazil has 24 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 1,807 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -17.34, -47.25 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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