About the plant
Brazil’s record-breaking solar facility
Located in Brazil’s semiarid region, in the state of Piauí, the São Gonçalo (SGL) solar facility is a record-breaking project consisting of more than 2.2 million solar panels. It is the largest solar plant currently under construction in South America.
The construction of São Gonçalo’s first 475 MW section started in October 2018 and was connected to the grid in January 2020. In August 2019, Enel announced the start of construction of the 133 MW extension of the solar park, which is also up and running. In addition, Enel Green Power is working on the second extension of the plant, with an installed capacity of 256 MW. This will bring its overall capacity up to 864 MW.
The whole complex covers an area of around 12,000,000 m², the equivalent of approximately 1,500 soccer stadiums.
A record-breaking project
Technology
Solar
Status
608 MW in operation / 256 MW under construction
Capacity
SGL I: 475,67 MW
SGL II: 133,06 MW
SGL III: 255,7 MWp
Production
Energy production: total amount when the third section becomes operative: 2.3 TWh
CO2 Emissions avoided
over 1.2 million tons each year (once fully up and running the 864 MW facility)
Timeline
Milestones
Given the size of the project, Enel Green Power has designed an innovative plant layout based on a high-resolution resource assessment to optimize its energy output. In addition, Enel Green Power is using a variety of innovative tools and methods, such as proximity sensors on machinery to boost site safety, bifacial solar modules, a substation with digital technologies, drones for topographic survey, as well as advanced digital platforms and software solutions to monitor and remotely support site activities and plant commissioning. These processes and tools enable swifter, more accurate and reliable data collection, thereby improving the quality of construction and facilitating communication between on-site and off-site teams.
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Work progress status
Status of construction phase
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São Gonçalo I 100%
São Gonçalo I 100% Completed
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São Gonçalo II 100%
São Gonçalo II 100% Completed
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São Gonçalo III 3,34%*
São Gonçalo III 3,34%* *As of February 1st 2021
Workers**
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Workers 2,200
Workers 2,200 Peak number of employees for São Gonçalo I and II
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Workers 750
Workers 750 Peak number of employees for São Gonçalo III
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Local workers 2,000
Local workers 2,000 São Gonçalo I, II and III
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No. Working hours >7,350
No. Working hours >7,350 out of which 365,058 from São Gonçalo III, which is still under construction***.