Photo by Marcus Dall Col on Unsplash (illustrative)
Wind and solar generated more than a third of Brazil's electricity for the first month on record in August 2025, according to an analysis published by the energy think tank Ember on 11 September 2025. The record came as hydropower, Brazil's biggest power source, fell to a four-year low during the dry season.
Key facts
Wind and solar produced 19.0 TWh in August 2025, a 34% share, beating the previous record of 18.6 TWh from September 2024.
Solar's share has grown sixfold in five years, from 2.2% in August 2020 to 13% in August 2025.
Fossil fuels supplied just 14% of Brazil's electricity that month, compared with 26% during the drought of August 2021.
Over 2025 as a whole, clean sources supplied 89% of Brazil's electricity, and wind and solar 27%.
Why it matters
Brazil has long relied on hydropower, which leaves it exposed to droughts that once forced it to burn more expensive fossil fuels. Wind and solar now cover those gaps, and Ember found Brazil's power sector emissions fell 31% between 2014 and 2024 even as demand grew 22%.
Worth noting
The grid is struggling to absorb all the new output: a Volt Robotics report found about 20% of solar and wind generation was curtailed in 2025. Solar installations also slowed in the first half of 2025 compared with a year earlier.