Cable industry calls for solar power

(ANSA) - Sao Paulo, October 1 - A recent study by the Bloomberg New Energy Finance consultancy agency said that Brazil should be set to get almost 100 billion dollars in investment for solar power by 2040.
    Previously underestimated due to high costs, photovoltaic sources now have a major role in Latin America's biggest country and this growth has had consequences for the sector's supply chains.
    "Those billions of dollars of investment in the (photovoltaic) sector are already having an impact, with research into special wires and cables that can go with the new technologies and contribute to improving the solar panels," Paulo Garnica, the owner of FG Wire and FG Resins, which produce products for the manufacturing of cables, including those for the solar sector, told ANSA.
    "Producers are looking for competitive, efficient, operative raw materials that satisfy the standards required by the sector.
    According to Garnica, his companies are "ready and willing" to take on an increase in demand.
    "We've already noticed it in our portfolio of clients - today demand for raw materials and masterbatches (blends used to colour plastic products) for solar electric lines is increasing on a monthly basis," he said, adding that he is aiming for leadership in his sector on the Brazilian market. FG Wire will showcase its products designed for the solar energy market at the next Wire South America, a fair organized by Messe Düsseldorf in collaboration with Cipa Fiera Milano that takes place October 1-3 at the São Paulo Expo complex in the south of the Brazilian city at the same time as the 10th Tubotech fair devoted to tubes, pipes, valves, pumps and connectors. Growth - Brazil has received billions of euros of investment in the renewable energy sector in recent years, thanks in part to international giants, such as Italy's ENEL, which has some of the country's biggest solar and wind parks. According to a study published in May by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), around 41,000 solar-energy facilities and systems were installed in Brazil between 2016 and 2018. This took solar energy's stake on the country's energy make-up from 0.1% to 1.4%.
    If one adds on wind parks, renewable energy is over the 10% mark. "Healthy competition is extremely important for Brazil's sustainable development," stressed Garnica.
    "When international sector giants arrive, that flatters us, because it shows that the world believes in our country".
    Furthermore, the entrepreneur has no doubt that the solar-energy sector will have growing importance for the wires and cables sector because "solar energy is the issue of the moment".