The plant will be located in Alto do Rodrigues, Rio Grande do Norte. Once completed, the SunEdison Renewable Operations Center will manage the ongoing operations of the plant. The energy generated will be destined to the National Interconnected System (SIN).
“We are pleased to collaborate with Petrobras, the leading energy company in Brazil, in this ambitious R&D project from ANEEL that aims to facilitate solar energy development and PV industry growth in Brazil," said Pancho Pérez, SunEdison General Manager for EMEA, Latin America and North Asia. "This agreement is a demonstration of our commitment to the Brazilian market. We look forward to working with Petrobras and helping to diversify the energy mix in Brazil”
The PV facility will have an installed capacity of 1.1 MW and will be built on land adjacent to the Thermoeletric Plant Jesus Soares Pereira that belongs to Termoaçu S.A, which major stakeholder is Petrobras. The plant is expected to generate 1,65 GWh per year, avoiding the emission of 380 tons of carbon.
The construction of the plant is part of an initiative lead by Petrobras within the structure of the Research and Development Program of the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL).
The project also includes the construction of a 10 kW experimental platform, a model plant at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) Department of Electrical Engineering's Laboratory of Power Electronics and Renewable Energy, and counts with partnership of the Center for Gas Technology and Renewable Energy(CTGás-ER) located in Natal (RN).
The expansion of the network of laboratories will aid testing and certification of equipment, increase availability of public data on solar photovoltaic energy generation, as well as improve the quality of training of technical and higher-level professionals dedicated to this field.
Approximately, 50 people will work on the construction of the plant, which is expected to begin operations at the end of this year.
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