Canadian Solar has started commercial operation of the 100MW Cafayate photovoltaic facility in Argentina, the country’s largest solar farm.
The PV plant is located in the Salta province and comprises over 289,000 of Canadian Solar’s high efficiency modules.
Cafayate will generate over 216 gigawatt hours of electricity annually.
As part of the RenovAR programme launched by the government of Argentina in 2016, the project was awarded a 20-year US dollar indexed power purchase agreement of $56.28 (€50.00) per megawatt hour with CAMMESA, the national wholesale power market administrator and clearing house, during the second renewable public tender.
The World Bank has guaranteed the 20-year PPA.
Canadian Solar chairman Shawn Qu said “It is with great joy that we announce the commissioning of the 100.1MW Cafayate solar power plant in Argentina, our first and the country’s largest solar power plant in operation.
“It once again underscores Canadian Solar’s success and leading position in the Latin America region.”
In Latin America Canadian Solar has been awarded over 1.6GW of solar power projects across Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Chile.
“We continue to foresee a high potential for photovoltaics in Argentina and the whole region and will deliver more solar projects to help the region diversify its energy matrix,” said Qu.
In November 2018, Canadian Solar closed $50m of non-recourse financing for the Cafayate project.
The financing package was provided by CAF-Banco de Desarrollo de America Latina, Banco Ciudad and BICE.