Greentech Lead America: Martifer Solar, a subsidiary of Martifer SGPS, is building a 30 MW photovoltaic plant in Mexico, the largest to date in Latin America.
The project will be funded by local development bank Nafin, by International Finance Corporation (IFC, the World Bank Group) and Corporación Aura Solar.
Martifer Solar is responsible for the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) services of the plant and will also provide the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) services upon completion.
The plant, which is being constructed for Gauss EnergÃa, is located in La Paz, Baja California Sur, on a 100-hectares site. It is Mexico’s first utility-scale solar project under a PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) contract between a private company and Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Mexico’s federal power company, ensuring the sale of the produced energy over 20 years.
This Mexican project will open the way for the development of the photovoltaic sector in the country, where, to date, were installed 13 MW of PV projects, says Hector Olea, CEO of Gauss EnergÃa, a Mexican company specialized in project development in the energy sector.
With approximately 132,000 modules installed on single-axis trackers, this plant will have a production capacity of 82 GWh/year, the equivalent to the average energy consumption of almost 160,000 inhabitants, and will be equivalent to offsetting the emission of more than 60,000 tons of CO2 per year.
The park’s construction is scheduled to be completed in August 2013. It is planned to be delivered to the client in the third quarter of the year.
With a high level of sun exposure, Mexico stands out due to a high potential in the photovoltaic sector; it is foreseen to have an exponential growth on the installed capacity during the coming years, to allow for the country to reach its target of 35 percent of energy being provided by renewable energy by 2026.