With 1,4 million modules, Sol do Cerrado is 100% operational in MG

The solar park Cerrado Sun, from mining company Vale, reached maximum operating capacity on Tuesday (18). One of the largest plants of its kind in Latin America, the enterprise of 766 MWp of power has 1,4 million photovoltaic modulescost R$3 billion.

The Sol do Cerrado complex is made up of 17 plants located in Jaíba, northern region of Minas Gerais. The project occupies an area equivalent to around 1,3 football pitches and has an automatic tracking system for the movement of the sun during the day, to make greater use of the sun's rays to generate energy. They are used 10,2 million meters of cables to conduct energy.

The project also covers a 15 kilometer long transmission line, with a voltage of 230 thousand volts, interconnecting the Coletora Sol do Cerrado and Jaíba substations, from where the energy is transferred to the SIN (National Interconnected System).

The operation of the solar complex at full capacity will represent 16% of all energy consumed by Vale in Brazil, helping the company to reduce emissions by 134 thousand tCO2e/year, which represents the emission of approximately 100 thousand compact cars.

According to the company, the project is an important step towards achieving its climate goals of reducing net carbon emissions (scopes 1 and 2) by 33% by 2030 and reaching zero by 2050.

“Over the last few months we have worked hard on ramp up of the project, which went exactly as planned. We have successfully connected the 17 plants in the solar park and we should already reach peak production next summer”, he states. Ludmila Nascimento, director of Energy and Decarbonization at Vale.

“Sol do Cerrado is a complex that brings together local development and renewable energy, contributing to our objective of being leaders in sustainable mining,” he added.

Currently, Sol do Cerrado has around 100 permanent workers of various qualifications, such as electrical technicians, electricians and assistants in general services. During the works to implement the solar park, between 2021 and 2023, generated around 3 thousand jobs at the peak of activities, almost 50% local labor and 16% women.

In this ocasion, residents of the region were trained and employed to work on the works such as bricklayers, mechanics and professionals in industrial electrical installation. Furthermore, approximately a quarter of the suppliers contracted to implement the project were from the region.