Lisarb Energy expected to see Brazilian sales of £125 million over the next five years

Lisarb Energy, a Devon-based solar developer, has established itself in Brazil and expects to generate sales of £125m to the country over the next five years.

Jamie Macdonald-Murray co-founded Lisarb Energy in 2017, having identified an urgent need to offer new sources of clean, renewable energy that can replace falling electrical generation capacity from Brazil’s aging hydroelectric plants.

He said: “Historically, 70% of Brazil’s energy has come from hydroelectric power plants. While hydro is a renewable source of power, unfortunately, there are increasing problems with these plants.

“Many of them are getting old and failing because of lack of investment; frequent droughts mean that water levels are often too low to generate sufficient power, and fundamentally, many hydro plants are in the wrong place – too far from where the energy is consumed. In practical terms, people and businesses are experiencing more frequent blackouts.”

Since 2019, the company has received support from the Department for International Trade (DIT), including grants for market research and introductions to key contacts in both the UK and Brazil.

Over the last 12 months, the company has grown its exports to Brazil by 500%.

Jamie continuted: “The help we have received from DIT as part of the levelling up fund has been extremely valuable to us. We have received both practical advice on how we can grow our exports and introductions to other companies that DIT works with, both in the UK and Brazil.

“I would advise companies to contact DIT for any export-related query as they have been instrumental to our growth in Brazil.”

Lisarb Energy has outgrown the market forecasts for renewable energy in Brazil, which is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of more than 5% in the forecast period of 2020-2025.

The company is now planning to expand its presence in other Latin American export markets, as well as Portugal.

Paul Shand, Head of Trade for DIT in the South West said: “Lisarb’s success in Brazil demonstrates the strong demand for alternative renewable energy sources in Latin America, and it’s great to see a company with a strong environmental purpose thriving.

“Trade will play an important role in getting our economy back on track and Lisarb is a great example of how companies can look to lucrative overseas markets to boost their sales whilst creating more jobs.”