São Paulo builds 7 MW floating solar power plant
The government of São Paulo has announced the successful completion of the first phase of the UFF Araucária floating photovoltaic project on the Billings Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the state.
The plant has an installed capacity of 7 MW with 10,500 solar panels mounted on high-density polyethylene floats. The power plant will operate under Brazil's domestic net metering program.
"The power plant will be the largest commercially operated power plant for distributed generation in Brazil, with generators located near consumption centers," the government said in a statement, "and can generate up to 10 GWh of electricity per year."
The Corporación Ambiental de Estado de São Paulo (Cetesb) is the owner and responsible for operating the facility.
The power plant is one of São Paulo's main sustainable energy development projects, and is being built under the coordination of the Secretariat of Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics. The overall project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025, when it will add 75 MW of renewable energy capacity.
"This power plant fulfills the clean energy, energy transition and decarbonization goals that we are pursuing in the state of São Paulo," said Natalia Resende, Minister of the Environment, "which means using clean energy to provide a quality service while taking into account the overall environmental impact that is sustainability."
In just two months, construction of the power plant has created approximately 200 jobs and occupies less than 0.1% of the surface of the Billings Reservoir water body, minimizing the overall environmental impact.
"In the first phase alone, the project has created 80 direct jobs and about 120 indirect jobs," said Emae CEO Marcio Rea, "and it is expected that there will be a lot of work to be done in the next two years that will require the installation of more power plants. We are committed to achieving 100% of this goal."