Solar moves forward in Latin America amid easing supply chain issues

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From pv magazine Latin America

Large-scale PV projects have been delayed in several Latin American countries due to well-known supply chain issues in the solar manufacturing industry. This has made module and inverter supplies critical in markets with traditionally weak currencies, high-interest rates, and scarce financing.

But as these chain supply issues start to fade, activity in the utility-scale PV segment has resumed in recent months, with several delayed projects now being completed.

Italy's Enel, for example, said this week that it has completed the 375 MW Campos del Sol project in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile. The $320 million facility, developed by its Enel Chile unit, features close to 1 million bifacial solar panels.

Enel originally started construction in August 2019. At the time, it was destined to become the largest solar plant in Chile. The company said completion was scheduled for the end of 2020. 

Enel also said this week that it has started building the 486.7 MW Guayepo I and II solar plant on a piece of land of more than 1,110 hectares in Ponedera and Sabanalarga, in Atlántico department, Colombia. The company said it will use more than 820,600 bifacial 595 W panels for the tracker-based project.

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In early February, Enel said it had started working on the 29.87 MW Baco solar plant in Panama. It will be built in the province of Chiriquí, next to the 30.88 MW Madre Vieja solar park and 3 km from the other solar projects that Enel Green Power has in operation in the area.

The new plant will feature more than 50,400 solar panels with capacities of 595 Wp each. It will occupy a maximum area of 32 hectares and will have nearly 470 mounting structures.

Also this week, US-based Verano Energy (formerly Verano Capital) said it had secured an environmental permit for a 100 MW project in Majes, Peru. The investment partner for the project is Yinson Renewables, which is part of Yinson Holding Berhad Group.

In January, the Dominican Republic's National Energy Commission (CNE) signed an agreement with Emerald Solar Energy for 25 MW Canoa II Solar Park. The project will be built in Vicente Noble, Barahona province. The new concession for the Canoa II Solar Park is an amendment to a contract that allowed the company to build the first phase of the power generation project with a capacity of 25 MW. The first part, Canoa I, was completed in 2019.

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