Wind and solar generate over a third of Brazil’s electricity for the first month on record

In August 2025, wind and solar power generated 34% of Brazil's electricity, totaling 19.0 TWh, the highest monthly share on record. This growth has allowed Brazil to maintain low fossil fuel generation (14% in August 2025) despite hydro output hitting a four-year low of 27 TWh due to drought. Between 2014 and 2024, wind and solar generation increased fifteenfold, contributing to a 31% decline in power sector emissions to 79 MtCO2 in 2024. While demand growth has accelerated to 5.3% in 2024, solar capacity additions slowed in the first half of 2025 to 7.1 GW due to grid congestion and regulatory uncertainty.

• Wind and solar power reached a record share of Brazil's electricity generation in August 2025, producing 19.0 TWh, which represents 34% of the total mix.
• The growth of wind and solar has reduced Brazil's reliance on fossil fuels during droughts; in August 2025, fossil generation was only 14% (7.8 TWh), compared to 26% (13 TWh) in August 2021 during a similar drought period.
• Hydro power generation fell to 27 TWh in August 2025, the lowest level since August 2021, resulting in hydro making up less than half of the electricity mix (48%) for only the second time on record.
• Between 2014 and 2024, the fifteenfold increase in wind and solar generation (adding 168 TWh) offset a 137 TWh increase in demand, leading to a 45% drop in fossil generation (64 TWh) and a 31% reduction in power sector emissions to 79 MtCO2 in 2024.
• Solar capacity additions decreased in the first half of 2025 to 7.1 GW, down from 9.9 GW in the first half of 2024, driven by regulatory uncertainty, reduced incentives, and grid-connection queues and congestion.

APA

Fulghum, N., & Miranda, R. (2025). Wind and solar generate over a third of Brazil’s electricity for the first month on record. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/EN-Report-Wind-and-solar-generate-over-a-third-of-Brazils-electricity-for-the-first-month-on-record.pdf

Chicago

Fulghum, Nicolas, and Raul Miranda. Wind and solar generate over a third of Brazil’s electricity for the first month on record. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/EN-Report-Wind-and-solar-generate-over-a-third-of-Brazils-electricity-for-the-first-month-on-record.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fulghum |first1=Nicolas |last2=Miranda |first2=Raul |title=Wind and solar generate over a third of Brazil’s electricity for the first month on record |publisher=Ember |date=11 September 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/EN-Report-Wind-and-solar-generate-over-a-third-of-Brazils-electricity-for-the-first-month-on-record.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fulghum2025wind, author = {Fulghum, Nicolas and Miranda, Raul}, title = {{Wind and solar generate over a third of Brazil’s electricity for the first month on record}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/EN-Report-Wind-and-solar-generate-over-a-third-of-Brazils-electricity-for-the-first-month-on-record.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }