Enel's subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil Participações has started construction of the 475MW São Gonçalo solar plant, located in Piauí, São Gonçalo do Gurguéia, Brazil.
Image: Enel starts building largest PV plant in South America. Photo: Courtesy of Zbynek Burival/Unsplash.
Enel will be investing nearly BRL1.4bn ($390m) for the construction of the solar plant. The solar project is expected to be completed in 2020.
Once commissioned, the São Gonçalo solar plant is expected to generate more than 1,200GWh of clean electricity per year, while avoiding more than 600,000 tons of CO2 emissions from entering into the atmosphere.
Of the 475MW of installed capacity, 388MW was awarded to the Enel Group in Brazil’s A-4 public tender in last December.
The solar plant is being supported by 20-year power supply contracts with a pool of distribution companies operating in the country’s regulated market. The remaining 87MW capacity is expected to be supplied to the free market.
Enel Group’s global renewable energy business line Enel Green Power head Antonio Cammisecra said: “The start of construction of this PV plant strengthens our leadership in the Brazilian renewable energy sector and confirms once again the importance we give to the development of solar energy in the country.
“São Gonçalo will further contribute to the diversification and resilience of the country’s energy mix, supporting a virtuous, economic cycle through the long-term supply of sustainable energy.”
Presently in Brazil, the firm, through its subsidiaries EGPB and Enel Brasil, has a total installed renewable capacity of over 2.9GW, of which 842MW is wind power, 820MW is solar PV and 1.26GW is hydro. In addition, EGPB has more than 1GW in execution, which were secured in Brazil last year.
Recently, the company’s subsidiary Enel Green Power España (EGPE) has started construction on three wind farms with a total capacity of 128MW in Spain.
These three wind farms include: the 46.8MW Muniesa, the 41.4MW Farlán and the 39.9MW San Pedro de Alacón. They are located in the municipalities of Muniesa and Alacón, in the region of Aragon’s Teruel province.