Enel Green Power of Italy has announced that it will begin construction of a 254-megawatt solar power plant in Brazil this year. The project is estimated to cost around US$400 million and is expected to be in service before the end of 2017.
Enel Green Power, an Italian multinational corporation for renewable energy sources, has taken a large step towards the implementation of a long-term and large-scale investment as the company has announced a construction of a solar power plant in Brazil that will generate 254 megawatts. The company is well known, for it is also constructing a wind farm in Sierra Gorda, Chile, which has a cost estimate of about US$215 million.
The Ituverava solar power plant to be constructed by Enel in Brazil has a cost estimate of around US$400 million. This solar project is one of the company's largest among the 1.65-gigawatt energy projects under the company's construction. This project was awarded to Enel in November 2014 through a competitive auction. The solar plant is owned by three special purpose vehicles under Enel Green Power Brasil Participacoes Ltda. The plant is expected to be up and running by the end of 2017.
The Brazilian solar power plant is expected to generate more than 550 gigawatt-hours per year. This energy generated by the plant annually is said to be more than enough to meet the demands of 268,000 households in Brazil while avoiding carbon dioxide emissions of more or less 185,000 tons annually. The project is under a 20-year power purchase agreement that will supply energy for the Chamber of Commercialization of Electric Energy.
The second solar power project auction was held in August 2015, which saw Enel Green Power winning a 553-megawatt offer out of the 834-megawatt capacity with an average tariff bid of US¢8.42 per kilowatt-hour. Enel was awarded three renewable energy projects that it needs to have up and running before 2017 reaches an end. The company is also planning to invest US$9.9 billion focusing mostly on enhancing and upgrading capacity of energy generation over the next five years and hopes to add about 7.1 gigawatts of energy generation capacity by the end of this decade. The company's investments will be taking place in Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
