Enel, through its Peruvian renewable energy subsidiary Enel Green Power Peru (EGPP), has started the construction of Rubi, which will be the first solar PV plant to be built by the Group in Peru and, once completed, will be the country’s largest PV facility with an installed capacity of 180 MW1.
“The start of construction of Enel’s first solar PV plant in Peru further strengthens and diversifies the Group’s presence in the country, and demonstrates our commitment to investing in the growth of the Peruvian renewable energy market,” said Francesco Venturini, Enel’s Head of Global Renewable Energies. “We are proud to contribute our expertise to the development of clean energies in Peru, in this case through the sustainable use of the abundant solar resources available in the south of the country, where Rubi can also be a driver for local development.”
Rubi, which is located in the Moquegua District of Peru’s Mariscal Nieto Province, will be able to generate approximately 440 GWh per year – equivalent to the annual consumption needs of approximately 351,000 Peruvian households – while avoiding the emission of more than 267,000 tonnes of CO2 per year into the atmosphere.
Enel will be investing approximately 170 million US dollars in the construction of the Rubi plant as part of the investments contained in the company’s current strategic plan. The project is financed with the Enel Group’s own resources and supported by a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) signed with the Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines.
Rubi is expected to start commercial operation in 2018, supplying energy to the National Interconnected Power System (SEIN) through the Montalvo Substation.
Enel was awarded the PPA supporting the project following the public renewable energy tender launched in 2015 by the energy regulator OSINERGMIN. With a total of 326 MW awarded in the tender, including 126 MW of wind and 20 MW of hydro capacity, in 2018 EGPP will become Peru’s main renewable energy player, as well as the only company in the country operating plants with three different renewables technologies.
1 DC capacity.
The Enel Group is also present in Peru through the generation companies Enel Generación Perú and Enel Generación Piura, which have a combined installed capacity of over 1.9 GW, as well as through the distribution company Enel Distribución Perú, which serves more than 1.3 million customers in the north of Lima and a few neighbouring districts.