Quadran, a French renewable energy developer born from the merging of Aerowatt and JMB Énergie, has energized a 12 MW PV power plant in Boulouparis in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the southwest Pacific Ocean.
Construction of the Hélio Boulouparis solar project began in February of this year. The local government said that, through this new installation, power generation from solar has more than tripled compared to 2015, and that it is part of the new energy strategy of the archipelago (Schéma pour la transition énergétique de la Nouvelle-Calédonie – STENC), which was approved by the local Parliament a year earlier. The project was granted approval by local environmental authorities in November 2015.
The plant will sell power to the local grid at a price of XPF 16,50 ($0.17)/kWh. This, the government said, is less than the average cost of power production.
Quadran is currently developing another 3.2 MW solar plant in the country. The project is named Hélio Témala and is scheduled to be commissioned in May.
The French developer owns and operates around 120 PV installations with a combined capacity of 120 MW in France’s mainland. The company has also a wind power project portfolio of around 210 MW.
New Caledonia’s second largest PV plant is currently the 2.1 MW Helios Bay project was connected to the grid in May 2010, after work began back in May 2009. The plant was built by French solar company Tenesol.
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