Ingeteam participates in the largest photovoltaic plant in Latin America
02/05/2018

Ingeteam participates in the largest photovoltaic plant in Latin America

The solar park under construction on the American continent and the second largest in the world has Ingeteam technology. It is the solar park Villanueva located in the town of Viesca in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico where Ingeteam has supplied the substations of the plant with a high-technology automation system.

The Villanueva solar park located in the town of Viesca in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico with a capacity of 753,84 MWdc / 582,61 MWac, has started to supply electricity to the Mexican electrical grid. It is the largest solar photovoltaic plant under construction on the American continent and the second largest in the world; Ingeteam was awarded a contract, obtained through EPCista Servicios & Soluciones Electromecánicos, S.A. of C.V. (SESELEC), for the turnkey supply of the protection, control, measurement and automation panels for the phase I and phase III substations.

Ingeteam's scope of supply has equipped the substations with a high-technology automation system, based on 61850 technology, which provides the resources needed to reliably respond to the demands involved in a project of this size. The protection, control and measurement panels developed and supplied by Ingeteam ensure a high level of protection for all of the plant’s bays. It also makes it possible to offer, signalling, control and monitoring of the park to the CENACE (the Mexican government’s national energy centre) control desk and other control desks.

The Federal Government has confirmed that part of the photovoltaic installation which has yet to be finished has already supplied several megawatts/hour to the national electrical grid. This is an important milestone in the country’s progress and positions it as a leader in terms of clean energy generation in the world, making the Villanueva solar photovoltaic plant the largest under construction on the American continent and the second largest in the world, with a planned production of 1,700 GWh/y.

This project was selected by the Mexican federal government in the second electrical energy auction in the country held in 2016. The project envisages the merger of two different solar plants close to each other: Villanueva I (427 MW) and Villanueva III (327 MW), which will have a maximum installed capacity of 754MWdc once the solar park has been completed, making Villanueva the largest photovoltaic plant in Latin America.
Enel Green Power México (EGPM) is the promoter of the project, which consists of the Villanueva I and Villanueva III parks, which are being built at the same time and which are expected to operate normally in September 2018. This year, the entire installation will begin operating, generating more than 1,700 GWh a year, equivalent to the useful energy consumption requirements of over 950,000 Mexican homes, whilst avoiding the emission of over 780,000 tonnes of CO(2) in the atmosphere. The company has invested approximately 650 million dollars into building Villanueva and the project is being financed using the Group’s own resources. 

Ingeteam Mexico 

Ingeteam has over 300 employees in Mexico and has offices in Juchitán de Zaragoza and in San Luis Potosí, both dedicated to supplying operation and maintenance services in wind farms and photovoltaic plants. It also has offices in Monterrey, dedicated to commercialising photovoltaic inverters and another office in Mexico City, dedicated to distributing equipment and implementing projects for the automation and protection of electrical distribution grids and substations for renewable energy evacuation. The company has been consolidated in Mexico as one of the major companies in the renewable energies sector, both in the wind sector and in the photovoltaic sector. Since beginning work in the country in 1998, it has to date deployed its technology in several projects and managed more than half of the solar power in the country. It is also the first company to provide wind power operation and maintenance services. 

For more information: Miguel Lara Mendoza | PGA - Sales Manager Mexico


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