Voltalia Announces Gradual Commissioning Of SSM1&2 In Brazil

Voltalia, an international player in renewable energies, announces the gradual commissioning of SSM1&2, a 320-megawatt project in the Serra Branca cluster in Brazil.

“We are very pleased to announce the commissioning of SSM1&2, our largest solar project to date with a capacity of 320 megawatts. Our objective was met with an earlier than expected start of production. SSM1&2 is located in the world’s largest wind and solar complex, Serra Branca, a 2.4-gigawatt site developed by Voltalia,” said Sebastien Clerc, CEO of Voltalia.

SSM1&2 started its commissioning in early April 2022. As of today, 31,000 photovoltaic panels are in operation, with a capacity of 18 megawatts. The site’s total capacity of 320 megawatts is expected to be reached by June 30.

In line with its strategy of developing projects on its own or in cooperation with partners, STOA, an investment fund dedicated to infrastructure projects in emerging countries, acquired a 33% stake in the SSM1&2 solar plant in March 2022. This is STOA’s third investment in Brazil, following the acquisition in 2020 of minority stakes in the VSM3 wind farm, also developed by Voltalia.

The construction of the SSM1&2 solar plant was launched in September 2021. It is backed by five long-term power sales contracts with an average duration of 16 years for a total capacity of 320 megawatts. Initially, with a capacity of 32 megawatts, the size of the project has been increased tenfold thanks to new long-term contracts signed with a series of buyers, including a corporate PPA with Braskem, a petrochemical company, a utility PPA with Copel, a long-term partner of Voltalia who has invested in our SMG wind farm since 2015 and who committed in May 2021 to acquire the VSM2 and VSM4 wind farms developed and built by Voltalia.

SSM1&2, part of the Serra Branca cluster, located in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, is now Voltalia’s largest solar project in the world. Combining wind and solar power, this hybrid cluster benefits from shared infrastructure and operational synergies and now has 1,217 megawatts in operation. Voltalia retains ownership of a significant portion of the 2.4-gigawatt site and sells the other portion to partners who also purchase our construction and maintenance services.

Voltalia launched the construction of the SSM3-6 solar projects on March 28, for an additional 260 megawatts of capacity. Voltalia is now at 2 gigawatts in operation and under construction, bringing it closer to its target of 2.6 gigawatts by the end of 2023.