International solar developer Atlas Renewable Energy has acquired its first solar PV project in Colombia.
Colombian solar company Rayo Energia originally developed the 201MWp Shangri-La project alongside Latin American solar development fund Black Orchid Solar. It is located in the Department of Tolima in the central-west region of the country and expected to reach commercial operations by the end of 2025.
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Atlas has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with an unnamed “leading Colombian company” for the project, which is forecast to produce 403.7GWh of renewable power annually. Atlas ultimately plans to reach 1GW of contracted solar PV projects in Colombia.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
“The recent acquisition of the Shangri-La solar project marks an important milestone in our strategic expansion in the Colombian energy market, contributing 201 MWp to our ambitious 1GW target,” said Ruben Borja, country manager of Atlas Renewable Energy in Colombia.
To this end, Atlas announced a “strategic alliance” deal with Colombia-headquartered Isagen last August to pursue 1GW of PV developments in the country.
Atlas said that it entered the Shangri-La project into the Colombian government’s recent Reliability Charge auction. The auction, which closed earlier this month, ultimately awarded 4.4GW of solar PV capacity to 30 projects at a price of US$18.2/MWh – the biggest winner was Enel Colombia, which secured 1.2GW of capacity. The successful projects are expected to come online between 1 December 2027 and 30 November 2028.
Many of Atlas’ Latin American operations to date have been in Brazil. In September 2023 the company commissioned 600MW of solar PV across two projects in the eastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The projects, with 239MW and 359MW capacity respectively, both have long-term PPAs in place.
November 2023 then saw the company secure US$448 million from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) to support a 902MWp single-phase project in Brazil, power from which is already contracted to aluminium producer Albras through a 21-year PPA.