Largest PV plant in Americas goes online in Brazil

Elera Renováveis has commissioned the 1.2 GW Janaúba solar complex. The facility, which went online this week, consists of 20 solar parks spread across 3,000 hectares.

The Janaúba solar complex

Image: Prefeitura de Janauba

Share

From pv magazine Brazil

Elera Renováveis inaugurated a 1.2 GW solar complex this week in Janaúba, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The project is the largest operational PV facility in the Americas.

Prior to the commissioning of the plant, the largest operational PV project in North and South America was the Villanueva project, which consists of the 427 MW Villanueva I and 327 MW Villanueva III installations in the Mexican state of Coahuila.

Elera Renováveis said it invested BRL 4 billion ($819 million) in the Janaúba project, which consists of 20 solar parks spread across a surface of around 3,000 hectares. The Brazilian renewables developer began construction in January 2021.

In 2021, Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), approved BRL 1.47 billion of financing for 14 plants in the complex, equivalent to 72% of the total planned investment of BRL 2.04 billion.

The complex features tracking systems from US-based Nextracker.

Popular content

World’s largest sodium-ion battery goes into operation
02 July 2024 The first phase of Datang Group’s 100 MW/200 MWh sodium-ion energy storage project in Qianjiang, Hubei Province, was connected to the grid.

Janaúba has one of the highest concentration of utility-scale solar projects among Brazilian municipalities. It has published a video clip to show the first images of the huge facility on its YouTube channel.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.