Engie Brasil Energia (EGIE3) has concluded the 3.24 billion reais (US$648 million) acquisition of five solar farms with a total installed capacity of 545 megawatts.

The assets, located in the states of Bahia, Ceara and Minas Gerais, are highly contracted in the long term with 66% of commercial capacity allocated to the regulated market and the remaining 34% to the free energy market.

With the acquisition of the Juazeiro, São Pedro, Sol do Futuro, Sertao Solar and Lar do Sol complexes, EGIE3 has reached 9 gigawatts of renewable installed capacity, while Engie Group in Brazil has 10.5 GW, including 1.5 GW related to a stake in the Jirau Hydropower Plant.

EGIE3 is expanding its generation capacity by a further 1.7 GW, related to the completion of the Santo Agostinho Wind Complex in 2024 and the Serra do Assurua Wind Complex and the Assu Sol Photovoltaic Complex by 2025.

Other ongoing investments seek to add more than 1,000 kilometres of electricity transmission lines to the 2,700 km already operated by EGIE3 in Brazil.

The company says the latest transaction reinforces a move that began in 2015, when the company decided to exit coal-fired power plant operations. Over the last eight years, EGIE3 has invested 22 billion reais in the country’s energy transition.

"The five assets, now incorporated into Engie Brasil Energia, are highly contracted, contributing to the sustainability of the company’s results," says EGIE3 chief executive officer Eduardo Sattamini. "They will also benefit from synergies with the plants we operate in these regions. We are now moving on to the final integration of the plants, a task which already has a team of experts in place and a carefully prepared plan.”

The seller was Atlas Renewable Energy, which was founded in 2017 and initially supported by global renewables investor Actis Group.

Atlas became the largest independently owned renewables independent power producer in Latin America. In 2022 it was sold to Global Infrastructure Partners in a US$2 billion deal.

Currently, Atlas operates one of the largest fleets of solar projects in the Americas, reaching 2.3GW of operating projects and 3.5GW of contracted projects under development, under construction or in operation.