Chile’s 3,600 GWh/year RE tender bags 5 bids; project finance for Recurrent’s Brazil project; Mexican presidential candidate pledges RE support; solar power for Ecopetrol refinery; Soltec sells 400 MW plant in Brazil; BFC to invest in Bolivia’s largest private PV plant.
5 bids for Chilean tender: The National Energy Commission (CNE) of Chile has received economic proposals from 5 companies for its renewable energy tender to award 3,600 GWh/year. The participating companies are Enel Generation, Innergex Renewable Energy SpA, Inversiones La Frontera Sur SpA, FVR Development Chile SpA, and GR Power Chile. The CNE wants this capacity to be supplied in 2 blocks of 1,500 GWh and 2,100 GWh with supply beginning from 2027 and 2028, respectively. Both need to supply energy with zonal and hourly segmentation. The agency says, “For the purposes of evaluating economic offers, at the Levelized Price of those offers in Schedule Blocks A or C, which are partially or totally supported by Storage or Generation Projects with Non-Variable Renewable Energy, a discount of 0.15 US$/MWh will be applied for each GWh of energy generated by said projects, which may not exceed 15 US$/MWh.”
The 3,600 GWh/year is down from the original capacity of 5,400 GWh/year the CNE had earlier announced (see Latin America Solar PV News Snippets).
Jaiba project bags financing: Solar and energy storage developer Recurrent Energy has secured BRL 343 million ($70 million) financing from Banco do Nordeste do Brasil (BNB) for its Jaiba III solar plant in Brazil. This non-recourse project financing will fund the 152 MW Jaiba III project over a 22-year period, spanning construction and operation phases. The financing is linked to the National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) and is inflation-adjusted debt, it added. A subsidiary of Canadian Solar, Recurrent says the project is tied under a 15-year inflation adjusted power purchase agreement (PPA) for the Jaiba III project under a private auction with local flat steel company Usiminas (see Solar PPA For 381 MW In Brazil). The project is scheduled to come online in Q4/2024, equipped with Canadian Solar’s BiHiKu modules. Backed by BlackRock, Recurrent recently closed a financing facility of up to €110 million to invest in its growth strategy (see Canadian Solar Subsidiary Lands Green Loan Facility).
Energy investments in Mexico: Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican presidential candidate, has announced plans to speed up promotion of renewable energies in the country if elected. According to Reuters, Sheinbaum has pledged to invest around $13.6 billion in new energy generation projects till 2030, comprising wind and solar facilities, among others. As per various media reports, she may push for increasing the country’s renewable energy generation to up to 50% by 2030. Mexico goes to polls on June 2, 2024. A scientist, Sheinbaum has pledged her support for renewables even though she is reported to have confirmed that she plans to continue strengthening state-owned energy companies that are mostly coal and oil based. Under the regime of the incumbent President Lopez Obrador, state oil company Pemex is known to have boosted fossil fuel production. Representing the current ruling party, Sheinbaum has served as a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In November 2022, Mexico committed to expanding its renewable energy capacity by over 30 GW combined wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric assets to aim for 40 GW combined wind and solar energy by 2030 (see Mexico Targets Over 40 GW Wind & Solar Capacity By 2030).
Ecopetrol has executed its 1st solar plant in Colombia, for its refinery. (Photo Credit: Ecopetrol)
Solar power for refinery: Colombian petroleum company Ecopetrol says it has executed its 1st solar project. The 22.1 MW solar plant at the Cartagena Refinery makes it the only solar farm built inside a refinery in Latin America, according to the company. The project is to be operationalized in 2 phases starting with an initial 4 MW, followed by the rest. The entire solar farm is expected to generate up to 34.4 million kWh annually. Ecopetrol says solar energy is aimed to help the refinery reduce its annual emissions by nearly 21,000 tons. Energy generated will be used by the refinery to power its operations, replacing self-generation with gas ‘at a time when the country faces the El Niño phenomenon.’
Soltec has offloaded a 400 MW AC Brazilian project to Casa dos Ventos. (Photo Credit: Soltec)
400 MW AC Brazilian project changes hands: Spanish solar company Soltec has sold a 400 MW AC solar plant in Brazil to Casa dos Ventos. The project is located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul project. Soltec had 13 GW of projects in development globally as on December 31, 2023, out of which 6.4 GW are in Brazil.
Solar power for beef company: A subsidiary of meat producer Frigorifico Concepcion, BFC SA, will invest in a 3 MW solar power plant in Bolivia. Local media reports call it the largest private PV plant in the country. To be constructed for $3 million, the project will power the Frigorifico BFC SA industrial plant. It will enable the company to reduce its carbon emissions. UKSOL of Britain will supply 4,536 solar panels with 670W output for the project. Located in the municipality of San Ignacio de Velasco in Santa Cruz department, the project will be financed by the Banco de Crédito de Bolivia SA.
