SunEdison, a leading global solar energy services provider and subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE:WFR), has signed an agreement with the Chilean mining and steel group CAP to construct what is expected to be the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in Latin America and one of the largest in the world. The plant is designed to have an installed capacity of 100MW (DC) and will be located in the Atacama Desert of Chile. It is estimated that the plant will produce as much as 15% of the mining group's energy needs.
CAP is the largest iron ore mining, steel producer and steel processor group in Chile.
Pancho Perez, SunEdison General Manager for EMEA, Latin America and North Asia, states that, "we are very pleased to add the CAP group to our customer portfolio. We have worked to deliver an innovative solution to CAP designed to reduce their energy costs while deriving up to 15 percent of their electricity supply from clean energy." Perez added, "This initiative furthers our leadership position as a solar power producer in Chile and across the rest of Latin America."
According to Jaime Charles, CAP group President, "this agreement serves to reaffirm CAP's commitment to innovation and sustainable development in Chile, by using state-of-the-art technology to meet the renewable energy goals set by the Chilean Government. SunEdison's track record and long-term commitment to projects were key factors in selecting this company as our partner on this initiative."
The plant will be built using SunEdison technology. More than 300,000 Silvantis™ monocrystalline silicon modules will be installed, which are made from non-toxic, non-polluting material that can be recycled at the end of its useful life, together with solar trackers designed by SunEdison, for which steel produced by CAP is expected to be used.
Once completed, the project will be managed by the SunEdison Renewable Operations Center (ROC). With locations in Belmont, California (USA), Madrid Spain and Chennai India, the ROC provides round the clock monitoring and management services to a global portfolio of rooftop and utility installations including those owned and operated by SunEdison and third parties. The ROC asset management services are structured to help power producers achieve maximum return on investment by maximizing plant efficiency.
SunEdison ranked as one of the leading solar power providers in 2012. As of September 2012, the company had interconnected over 850MW of solar energy around the world and has the unique combination of upstream product innovation, project development and ongoing asset management and services. SunEdison has been operating in Latin America since 2010 with offices in Chile, Brazil and Mexico.
During the first year of operations the plant is expected to generate 270GWh of clean energy, avoiding the emission of over 135,000 tones of CO2/year into the atmosphere, which is the equivalent of withdrawing over 30,000 automobiles from circulation.