Scatec to develop 532MW solar project in Brazil, brings regional pipe to 2GW+.

• Norwegian renewables firm Scatec is to develop a 532MW solar PV project in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte via a US$ 320 million financial investment following arrangement from state authorities.

The Mendubim project, located in the community of Assu, is being understood in partnership with Norwegian power business Equinor as well as Hydro as well as will be constructed over the next 17 months, becoming functional in the last half of 2023.

The size of the project has actually boosted substantially because it was first mooted at the end 2020, when it had an intended capability of 480MW. In Q4 2021, Equinor and Hydro signed commitments describing industrial terms for 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Axel Holmberg, elderly vice head of state of business growth in Latin America for Scatec, told PV Tech that the company sees the area, and Brazil specifically, as a key growth market. This is in spite of project funding restrictions in Brazil, which has a complicated plan of commercial and also development banks using financings for various elements of a project.

The Mendubim complicated is one of more than 40 solar projects with a closed and also authorized agreement scheduled to operate in Rio Grande do Norte up until 2026, representing an overall investment of US$ 1.33 billion, Scatec stated. When full, Mendubim will certainly be the largest project in the state, it added.

Scatec, which operates worldwide, had a Q4 2021 pipeline of 2,147 MW in Latin America, according to its Q4 financial results.

At the start of this month, Scatec stated it undertook a "transformational" year in 2020, with its complete renewables pipe now standing at a record high of 10.5 GW.