Engie plugs in 40 MW solar plant in Peru

Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra and his Minister of Energy and Mines, Francisco Ísmodes, have inaugurated the Intipampa Solar Power Plant in Moquegua, in Peru's southern province of Mariscal Nieto.

As reported by the government in a statement, the project was built with 138,120 polycrystalline solar panels – each with an output of 320 to 325 watts – and has a capacity of 40 MW. “These projects can be executed in regions of southern Peru such as Moquegua, which has permanent sun and allows you to get the most out of it for generating energy. We will continue to promote this type of initiative,” said Vizcarra.

The Intipampa project is owned by French energy company Engie and was awarded in a national electricity tender held in early 2016, in which Engie Energía Perú was awarded a contract to supply 180 GW per year at a price of $48.50/MWh.

As reported by the Supervisory Body of Investment in Energy and Mining of Peru in November, the project was developed with an investment of $52.3 million.

Some 188.5 MW of PV were assigned in the 2016 auction. In addition to Intipampa, the Rubí solar plant of 144.5 MW (DC) – awarded to Enel Green Power Peru (EGPP), a subsidiary of the Italian energy group Enel – was completed in March. That ensures all 188.5 MW are in operation, and that the cumulative PV capacity of Peru has reached about 284.5 MW. Last year, installed PV capacity reached 96 MW, similar to the figures for 2015 and 2016.

The statistics of the Ministry of Energy and Mines however, only include large-scale solar plants even as the Peruvian government is implementing a program to drive off-grid PV take-up.