With over 6 GW of installed capacity in Brazil, solar energy DG (distributed generation) has attracted Brazilian companies from various segments. Among them, the highway concessionaires Arteris and Entrevias. Recently, the highway concessionaire Arteris opened a photovoltaic plant in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ) to supply the entire toll plaza at Km 123,7, on the south lane of the BR-101 highway. 507 modules were installed.
“The solar plant represents our commitment to the ESG concept, that is, involving the environmental, social and governance dimensions of the project, including considering the economic analysis”, stated Luiz Eduardo Ritzmann, technology superintendent at Arteris.
“Having clean energy allows us to increase our care for the environment, contributing to the use of renewable sources. We work responsibly and with a focus on generating shared value”, he added.
“Photovoltaic solar energy has been experiencing a period of growth in recent years and, even in the current pandemic scenario, we can see how much this clean, renewable and competitive source of energy has stood out in the market”, commented Leandro Abreu, B2B director at Enel X, the company responsible for the installation.
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The highway concessionaire interviews has been using solar energy since 2019 to supply eight toll plazas along 570 km of highways under the company's concession. In addition, the photovoltaic plant supplies four PGF (General Inspection Posts), the administrative headquarters and the CCO (Operational Control Center), located in Sertãozinho (SP). The plant has 3,7 solar panels installed on the roof of all toll units between the stretch between Marília (SP) and Ribeirão Preto (SP).
The modules on the highways are connected to batteries and keep equipment running, such as speed control radars, monitoring cameras (CCTV), traffic analysis systems (SATs) and Wi-Fi. The investment made by the concessionaire was approximately R$4,5 million. The annual savings are R$1 million.
