sustainable_energy svg

72.000 €

funded by 583 investors

Microsolar Farm

Location Pin Svg
Minas Gerais, BR

instalment

quarterly

term

4 years

a year

7%

rating

B-

A microgeneration solar farm

Description

Recap is a renewable energy developer that provides flexible, customized, and fully financed clean energy solutions to Commercial and Industrial clients (C&I). 

This is Recap's third GoParity campaign to finance their projects in Brazil. The 70.000€ raised in the two previous campaigns (Racap Brazil I and II) were used to refinance photovoltaic systems in a shopping mall. Besides the Brazilian campaigns, Recap has promoted several successful campaigns for their projects in Colombia.

The goal of this campaign is to refinance Recap's first microgeneration solar plant, to be installed in Fazenda Jurema (Jurema Farm). This is a 75 kWac plant in the north of the state of Minas Gerais, in Brazil. The region has one of the best solar irradiation levels in the country and offers tax benefits for distributed energy. Besides the favourable irradiation and fiscal conditions, there are no considerable deforestation or arable land impacts, as the region is dry, devoid of vegetation, and not explored for agriculture.

This is the first microgeneration developed by Recap but the expectation is to develop several of these projects in the upcoming months.

The plants will be built on small properties - farms - whose owners will benefit from leasing the land and from receiving a service fee for cleaning and surveilling the plant. The energy will be directed to an energy trader whose end clients are small businesses.

About microgeneration:

  • Solar PV plants with a capacity of <75 kWn are classified as microgeneration according to Brazilian regulations for distributed generation. 
  • Due to their size, microgeneration plants require simple permitting procedures, don't impact the grid and are easy to connect, are modular, and are easily scalable.

Such projects are granted with benefits when opposed to larger projects:

  • Easy grid access and connection. The grid operator has obligation to grant access to the grid within 30 days.
  • No power capacity charges.
  • No requirements for an environmental license.
  • Fast deployment. A unit can be built in only 30 days.
  • Technical simplicity. No substation required
  • Flexibility to build up plants in small urban and rural areas as each unit requires a maximum surface area of 2000m².
  • Brazilian regulation RN 482/12 for distributed energy (grid-connected, < 5MWac) allows full offsetting of energy credits from distributed renewable generation through a credit system.

It is important to note that the regulation is changing. The government published, in January 2022, Law 14.300 introducing new rules. However, projects that request grid access within 12 months of the enactment of the law will not be taxed under the new rules until 2045. This creates a window of opportunity for developing projects that will still gain full value for the credits generated. A progressive grid fee will go into effect from 2023, through the charging of T&D components. Although the profitability of distributed solar projects is expected to remain high, it will decrease in comparison to projects developed under the current regulation.

The Impact

Direct impact:

  • Contribution to the decarbonization in Brazil by avoiding CO2 emissions: The whole operation is estimated to produce 146.3 MWh of clean and renewable energy per year, avoiding the emission of almost 58.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually, equivalent to planting around 2692 trees.
  • Cost reduction for the final clients: energy production through renewable sources under the Brazilian distributed energy regulation avoids transmission and distribution costs, making this a more cost-efficient option than the regular energy market. Furthermore, with a fixed discount on the retail price, the end client will always pay less than retail prices. Recap estimates an average reduction of 15% in the cost of the kWh for the clients of these projects.

Indirect Impact

  • Promotion of distributed energy in Brazil: with its Solar Funds, Recap enables smaller organizations of different sectors to benefit from renewable energy sources. With the micro-scale generation plants, the solution is easily scalable and allows end clients with no roof area to have similar benefits as they would with rooftop solar systems.
  • Generation of income through micro solar plants: the solar panels are installed on leased land, which provides extra income for the small landowners (farm or fazenda owners) in Brazil’s countryside.
  • Support local companies: Recap partners with Brazilian EPC companies and energy traders for the development of this project, strengthening the distributed energy sector in the country.

Impact Indicators

Metrics Svg

58,52 t

CO2 avoided per year

Metrics Svg

146,3

MWh clean energy

Sustainable Development Goals

7 image
13 image

Financial viability

The plant will be fully financed by Recap and then refinanced by the campaign. The refinancing will allow Recap to continue investing in microgeneration plants in Brazil. The plant will provide a continuous cash flow.

PDF Logo Svg

Download Key Investment Information Sheet

The Promoter

About Recap Solar Fund III AB

The Recap Solar Fund III is part of Recap Energy AB, an organization founded in 2010 with the mission to provide flexible, customized, and fully financed clean energy solutions to C&I clients.

Since 2016, Recap has been focused on providing solar-based Energy as a Service (EaaS). The company has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and subsidiaries in Spain (which also serves the Portuguese market), Colombia, Brazil, and India.

Recap has three main business lines:

- C&I – Rooftop Solar: specialized in solar projects for self-consumption.

- Energy storage with batteries (Battery-as-a-Service): providing a series of benefits for C&I clients, such as peak-shaving, increased available capacity, resilience, and UPS and grid services.

- Development of ground-mounted solar PV installations: and providing corporate PPAs to C&I clients.

The company currently has 40 full-time employees. 

Recap has 297 MW developed or under development in rooftop and ground-mounted solar PVs and has recently signed a pioneer energy storage contract for 3,3 MW.

The team

Felipe Borschiver

linkedin
Country Manager Brazil

Felipe Borschiver is Recap's Country Manager for Brazil, based in Rio de Janeiro, where he manages the development of Recap's national energy portfolio. His experience lies in structured finance, distributed energy, and land-use projects. Before joining Recap, Felipe worked for IP Capital Partners and founded/managed Archipelago Partners, both asset management companies focused on long-term equity investments in Brazil. He has extensive experience in financial analysis and assessment of governance and incentive frameworks and structuring financial products. Felipe holds an Economics degree from the University of Rio de Janeiro and a master in Sustainable Finance from the COPPEAD School of Management (UFRJ).

Marco Berggren

linkedin
Founder & CEO

More than 17 years of experience implementing and financing clean energy projects globally. Responsible for market strategy execution, partnerships and product development.

Eduardo Rechden

linkedin
COO

Eduardo holds a Master in Environmental Management and Policy, from Lunds Universitet and a Master in Environmental Management, from Universidad de Sevilla. He is specialized in Solar and renewable energy, CSR and Stakeholder assessments, waste management and urban environmental management.

Business Model

Recap’s business model is based on sharing the benefits of PV plants with C&I clients. Without any need for investment from the end client, Recap owns, installs, and maintains the solar PV plants. In exchange, the client pays a fee that will always be lower than that of the local utility. The fees paid by the client cover the investments, and operational costs, and provide high and stable returns to investors. The business model was first successfully implemented in Spain. Colombia was the next market and soon after Recap was established in Brazil and India. Currently, Recap also has operations in Sweden and in Portugal (through its Spanish subsidiary).

Active since

2020

Fiscal country

SE

Operating In

Brazil, Colombia, India, Portugal, Spain and Sweden

Industry

Renewable energy

Number of Goparity Loans

5

Women Shareholders

Yes

Updates

2022-09-02

First payment

First instalment was paid to all the investors

2022-06-01

100% funded

568 investors successfully raised 72.000€

2022-05-28

Open for investment

This campaign will help avoid the emission of 9 tons of CO2 per year

Sign up to our newsletter and stay up-to-date on our investment opportunities