The Brazilian state of Paraiba will soon become home to a solar panel fab of unknown annual production capacity to be set up by Balfar Solar for an initial investment of BRL 70 million ($14 million).
According to the Paraiba's Governor João Azevêdo, Balfar Solar plans to produce over 150,000 solar panels a year with power output ranging between 340W to 450W, targeting domestic market. Assumed the average power rating is 400W, this would result in an annual output of 60 MW. The facility will be located in the industrial district of João Pessoa on 18,000 sq. mtr. area. The authorities expect the project to generate close to 100 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs.
On completion in January 2022, Balfar Solar sees the fab generating an annual turnover of BRL 160 million ($32 million) in its 1st year of operation.
The solar panel manufacturer from the city of Paranavai in the state of Parana in Brazil, Balfar Solar produces solar panels with output ranging between 330W to 370W, according to information on the company's website. It also produces fixation structures, inverters and electrobox.
Governor Azevêdo also announced a new solar power plant complex to be sited in Paraiba by Rio Alto Energias Renovaveis with 1.625 GW capacity. The Santa Luzia Solar Complex will be realized in the form of 28 projects each with 58 MW capacity in Santa Luzia and São Mamede cities. Rio Alto estimates this complex to cost BRL 4.1 billion as initial investment to deploy 1.3 million panels on thousands of trackers and 3,700 string inverters.
The project is scheduled to enter construction in July 2021 and its completion is due for January 2023.
Rio Alto already operates the Coremas Solar Complex in Paraiba's Coremas municipality that a coming together of 10 facilities as a 300 MW strong project (see Brazilian Rio Alto Expands PV Complex To 300 MW).