Enel has started construction on the 103MW Horizonte solar power plant in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia.
The plant is owned by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by Enel Green Power Brasil Participações (EGPB).
After its planned completion in the second half of 2017, the plant will generate more than 220 GWh of energy a year.
The energy generated by plant will meet the demands of more than 108,000 Brazilian homes and avoid emitting 129,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Enel will invest about $110m in the construction of the plant, which will be procured from its own sources.
Enel Brazil country manager Carlo Zorzoli said: “With the start of construction of Horizonte, Enel has reached yet another milestone in the implementation of its growth plan in Brazil.
“Once again we confirm us as being a reliable energy player in the Brazilian landscape by actually building sustainable power generation facilities out of the capacity we have been awarded through tenders.”
Enel has entered into a 20 year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Brazilian Chamber of Commercialisation of Electric Energy (Câmara de Comercialização da Energia Elétrica) (CCEE) to supply the power produced at the Horizonte plant.
EGPBP won the Horizonte project along with 158MW Lapa and 292MW Nova Olinda solar projects in August 2015, during Leilão de Reserva public tender.
Enel is already in the process of building two solar projects in Brazil which include the 254MW Ituverava and 158MW Lapa. The Horizonte solar plant lies next to Ituverava plant.
The company said in the future, it can pool up the resources during the construction and operation of the two projects. The two projects will also share the same connection infrastructure.
At present, EGPB has a total installed capacity of 546MW, of which 401MW is produced from wind, 12MW from PV solar and 133MW from hydropower.
Apart from this, the company has about 442MW of wind, 102MW of hydropower and 807MW of solar projects under construction.
Image: Enel starts construction of the Horizonte solar plant in Brazil. Photo: Courtesy of khunaspix/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.