Orion-E and Bolt to develop 500 MW solar in Brazil; Natixis leads $360 million financing for 360 MW DC PV in Chile; Trina’s trackers and modules for Colombian project; Enel X to develop 54.7 MW solar for Itaú Unibanco.
Partnership for 500 MW solar in Brazil: Reuters has reported that energy infrastructure company Orion-E and energy trader Bolt have signed an agreement to build 500 MW solar PV capacity in Brazil under a partnership. The BRL 3.2 billion ($627.49 million) investment will be made in Minas Gerais among other Brazilian states, it added. Projects will comprise small scale facilities that are expected to come online in 24 months. While Orion-E will develop the projects, Bolt will sell energy generated.
$360 million for 360 MW DC Chile solar: Natixis says it led the financing of approximately $360 million close to 360 MW DC solar in Chile, sponsored by Connor, Clark and Lunn Infrastructure (CC&L Infrastructure) and CarbonFree Technology. This capacity will be realized in the form of 53 solar projects that will operate under Chile’s special regime for distributed generation projects called PMGD. Power generated by these facilities will be sold at regulated stabilized price. According to Natixis for whom this is its 12th PMGD financing in 3 years, this is the largest PMGD portfolio financed to date both in terms of installed capacity and number of projects.
“We are excited to complete this refinancing, one of the largest solar project private placements in Chile to date,” said President of CC&L Infrastructure, Matt O’Brien. “Our base of Chilean solar assets is part of our large and rapidly growing energy transition portfolio that aggregates over 1.5 gigawatts of renewable assets across a range of clean energy technologies.”
1st Colombian project for TrinaTracker: Work has started on a 25 MW solar power plant in Colombia that happens to be TrinaTracker’s 1st Colombian project as it will installed SuperTrack tracking system from the Chinese company along with Trina Solar’s 600W+ ultra-high power Vertex bifacial modules. The smart tracking solutions provided by Trina includes Vanguard 2P trackers, SuperTrack smart control system and SCADA. The Urra project is developed by URRA Public Services Company and Luxpower Consortium in Colombia’s Cordoba department. It will be grid connected once it comes online in July 2023 as the 1st utility project of Urra. Trina presented the latest on its trackers at the TaiyangNews Bifacial & Solar Trackers 2022 conference (see Trina Tracker: Increasing Energy Yield by Up to 8%).
Solar power for Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco: Brazilian financial services company Itaú Unibanco has contracted Enel X, through Enel Brasil, to construct 54.7 MW distributed solar power capacity for 1,557 buildings. It is Enel X’s largest distributed solar generation contract globally to date. The company will construct this capacity in the form of 46 solar plants in 14 locations in Brazil identified as Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, São Paulo, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceará, Pará, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, and the Federal District. A total of more than 75,000 solar panels will be installed. The deal is aligned with Itaú’s plans to become zero carbon entity by 2050.
