Enel Green Power has started building the 133MW expansion of the Sao Goncalo solar park, in Brazil’s north-eastern state of Piaui.
The expansion, in Sao Goncalo do Gurgueia, will bring the overall capacity of the Sao Goncalo solar farm to 608MW.
The whole of Sao Goncalo is due to start operations in 2020, with the construction of the initial 475MW having begun in October 2018.
Enel is investing €100m in constructing the additional 133MW.
Enel Green Power head Antonio Cammisecra said the plant will dedicate a significant portion of its output, including the entire production from the expansion, to Brazil’s free energy market.
Out of Sao Goncalo’s overall installed capacity 343MW is supported by power supply contracts negotiated with corporate customers in the Brazilian free energy market, with around 265MW from the first section supported by 20-year power supply contracts with a pool of distribution companies operating in the country’s regulated market.
The PV farm is Enel’s first in Brazil to use bifacial solar modules that capture solar energy from both sides of the panel, increasing power generation up to 18%.
In Brazil, the Enel Group, through its subsidiaries EGPB and Enel Brasil, has a total installed renewable capacity of more than 2.4GW, of which 782MW is from wind and 370MW is from solar.