“SSM1&2 is our biggest solar project to date: 320 megawatts, including 50 megawatts backed by new long-term power sales contracts won since our last communication on the project last year. We are now beginning construction with a target to commission the facility during the first half of 2022. SSM1&2 is located in the world’s largest wind-and-solar cluster, Serra Branca, a 2.4-gigawatt site Voltalia has developed from scratch. Thanks to the SSM1&2 solar plants in Serra Branca, we are fully leveraging our multi-technology advantage: we are optimizing land use by putting solar panels next to wind turbines and making renewable power production more steady during the day ” says Sébastien Clerc, CEO of Voltalia.
The SSM1&2 solar project is backed by five long-term power-sales contracts with an average maturity of 16 years for a total capacity of 320 megawatts. Initially a 32-megawatt project, it has grown tenfold thanks to new long-term contracts signed with a series of buyers, including a corporate PPA with Braskem, a petrochemical company.
When it will be commissioned during the first half of 2022, SSM1&2 will become Voltalia’s largest solar project worldwide.
SSM1&2 is part of the Serra Branca cluster, located in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Norte. Historically a cluster of wind farms, with record-high production levels (load factor consistently above 50% allowing to generate one the country’s most competitive energy), Serra Branca is now a combined wind-and-solar cluster, benefitting from common infrastructures and operating synergies.
Voltalia is retaining ownership of a significant part of the 2.4-gigawatt site while selling the other part to partners who also buy construction and maintenance services from Voltalia.
Voltalia is an international player in the renewable energy sector. The Group produces and sells electricity generated from wind, solar, hydraulic, biomass, and storage facilities that it owns and operates. Voltalia has generating capacity in operation and under construction of more than 1.5 GW and a portfolio of projects under development representing a total capacity of 9.7 GW.
