Essentia Energia has begun operations at its 475MW Sol do Sertao solar power plant in the Brazilian state of Bahia.
Sol do Sertao is the second largest solar project in Brazil and the third largest in Latin America, according to Essentia.
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The plant, which took 19 months to complete, utilises more than one million bifacial Hi-MO 4 modules that were exclusively supplied by LONGi, 9,000 trackers and 122 inverters across an area of 1,000 hectares.
Located in Oliveira dos Brejinhos 300 miles from the State capital, Salvador, the project represents a R$1.4 billion (US$250 million) investment by the renewable energy company.
Moreover, the plant was the largest project finance structured by Brazil’s development bank (BNDES) for a solar project up to its signing in October 2020, of R$910 million (US$167 million).
“The beginning of Sol do Sertao’s operations is an important milestone for Essentia. This is a large-scale project that was started and finished during the pandemic, proving the company’s execution capacity,” said Essentia CEO Leonardo Serpa.
Essentia Energia is investment firm Patria Investments’ renewables arm. Patria is listed on the NASDAQ and is headquartered in the Cayman Islands.