Brazil leads in clean energy cogeneration

Published Jul 23, 2025

Tridge summary

Brazil has established itself as a global benchmark in cogeneration of energy from renewable sources, following a global trend of decarbonization of the energy matrix. While coal still represents 61% of global cogeneration, according to the Global CHP Market Overview report (Dec/2024), the country is moving in the opposite direction: in 2021, 69.2% of national cogeneration came from biomass, such as sugarcane bagasse, black liquor, and wood shavings, as highlighted by Leonardo Nakamura, an engineer from the Cogeneration Energy Industry Association (Cogen).

Original content

Brazil has established itself as a global benchmark in the cogeneration of energy from renewable sources, following a global trend of decarbonizing the energy matrix. While coal still represents 61% of global cogeneration, according to the Global CHP Market Overview report (Dec/2024), the country is moving in the opposite direction: in 2021, 69.2% of national cogeneration came from biomass, such as sugarcane bagasse, black liquor, and wood shavings, as highlighted by Leonardo Nakamura, an engineer from the Cogeneration Energy Industry Association (Cogen). This leadership is attributed to the maturity of the Brazilian agribusiness, which combines an abundance of by-products with investments in technology. Currently, Brazil has 21.9 GW of installed cogeneration capacity in operation, representing 10.3% of the national electricity matrix. Biomass alone accounts for 18.7 GW, with sugarcane bagasse (13.03 GW) being the most prominent, according to data from Aneel and Cogen. In 2024, ...

Source: Agrolink