This accounts for about 71% of 21GW of wind capacity and 38% of 13GW of solar PV registered for the tender.

The delays in expansion of Brazil’s transmission grid, the study showed, was a result of the bankruptcy of Spanish power group Abengoa – which was building several transmission lines in the country’s north-eastern region.

Transmission investment by federal power company Eletrosul in southern Brazil will also not be concluded until March 2019 - too close to the date when winning projects have to begin operation.

According