More than half a million solar panels coming from China: solar plant will be built in Caucaia, Ceará, close to the reserve of traditional indigenous and quilombola communities. State body will be responsible for inspections and issuing a license to build the solar energy generating unit
Later this week, at the Port of Pecém, in Ceará, a ship coming from China will arrive loaded with about 231 containers, each 40 feet long, making thousands of solar panels destined to generate photovoltaic solar energy. This shipment will go towards the construction of the new photovoltaic solar plant in Sítios Novos, located in Caucaia, in the metropolitan region of Fortaleza. The project, which was approved by the State Council for the Environment (Coema), is awaiting the license for the plant to be installed. This license will be issued by Semace (State Superintendence of the Environment).
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New solar plant in Ceará will generate power around 219,99 megawatts
Lavras 6 Energias Renováveis SA will be responsible for imports. The company is controlled by Canadian Solar do Brasil, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar. Lavras 6 will be leading the construction of the new photovoltaic solar plant in Ceará. The plant is already in the implementation phase and will be located in an area of 528 hectares of the 726 hectares of Fazenda Lavras.
For the solar power generation process, about 619.710 solar panels arriving from China will be installed. For full operation, there will be a nominal power of 196,04 megawatts and the installed power will be around 219,99 megawatts. According to an analysis carried out by Semace, only in the initial phase of installing the solar panels, around 300 jobs will be generated.
Semace tried to point out that the solar plant is considered of “low polluting-degrading potential” and also of public interest. Semace also made it clear that, in the environmental sphere, if any of the conditions imposed by the superintendence are not met, it will immediately suspend the license for the solar plant.
Semace requirements for the installation of the solar plant in Caucaia
Among the numerous requirements required by Semace, some of the main ones are that the solar plant project does not interact with conservation units, such as in traditional communities residing in the region, that is, indigenous and quilombola communities.
Semace reported that practically the entire area where the solar plant will be built is uninhabited, but in a certain part of it, around 12 families continue to live in the vicinity of the site. The superintendence will monitor and mitigate the environmental impacts that are expected for the initial installation phase. Ceará is currently the seventh state with the highest installed potential in Brazil, registering around 41,43 MW, in June 2021.
In the capital Fortaleza, the installed potential is currently 13,44 megawatts (MW). According to data records, the largest installed potentials are in Aquiraz (3,71 MW), Iguatu (2,47 MW), Juazeiro do Norte (2,40 MW) and Limoeiro do Norte (1,89 MW). The state of Ceará, in all, has 2.587 photovoltaic energy generating plants.
The logistics of road transport in the Port of Pecém will be handled by Grupo Martins and also by the Ceará transport company Brok Logística, owned by businessman Edson Brok. The forecast is that the transport will be 56 containers per week.
With 895 solar panels, Ceará inaugurates the largest public solar plant in the state
The Government of Ceará inaugurated a solar plant with a power of 400 kWp, which is located at the Cearense Worker Training Center (CTTC/IFCE), last Thursday (30). The solar energy plant has a covered area of 1,8 m² with 895 solar panels, electrical inverters and cables distributed over blocks C, D and E of the Centre. According to the government of Ceará, this solar plant is currently the largest public undertaking for generating solar energy in the state.
Located in Pecém, the plant with solar panels will produce energy for use on the premises of the CTTC and also for the Secretary of Science, Technology and Higher Education of the State (Secitece), in Fortaleza.
Ceará's estimate is that the solar plant will provide annual savings of R$ 360 in electricity expenses, in addition to the reduction in energy tariffs, in a partnership with the IFCE, also involving companies in the region. The solar plant will serve as a base for the qualification of many professionals for the sustainable energy sector.
