The start of 2018 brought significantly positive developments for the Madrid-based Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, as it reported major developments from renewable energy markets in Mexico and Chile.
Chile recently held an auction for the supply of 2,200 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity from renewable energy projects. Fotowatio secured rights to develop 25% of this capacity, or 540 GWh. The project is likely to have solar as well as wind energy technology, making it a hybrid renewable energy project.
The project is expected to be located in northern Chile and, once commissioned, will generate enough electricity to power 224,000 households and offset 221,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This is the first project for FRV in Chile, which already has renewable energy assets in Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay.
The project will also be FRV’s first hybrid renewable energy project. The company already has substantial experience in the solar power technology and is now looking to diversify into wind energy development as well. “Solar and wind technologies have many similarities and a high degree of maturity, which is allowing us to lead the transition to clean energy throughout the world. At FRV, we understand wind power as the natural progression of our consolidated experience in the solar energy sector, and we will continue to bet on it,” Andrea Fontana, Managing Director of Wind Energy division of FRV noted.
FRV also reported that it reached financial closure for its first solar power project in Mexico. The company secured funding from KfW, Bancomext, and ING for the 342 MW (DC) Potosí Solar Farm. The company had secured this project in an auction held by the National Center for Energy Control (CENACE) in September 2016. The project has a power purchase agreement with CFE Suministro Basico.
Construction on the project is yet to begin, but it is expected to be operational by 2019. Once commissioned, the project is expected to fulfill power needs of 150,000 Mexican households and offset 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year.
Fotowatio Renewable Ventures was founded in 2006 and attracted equity funding from the likes of General Electric Energy Financial Services (GE EFS) and Grupo Corporativo Landon. The company was acquired by Abdul Latif Jameel Global Energy DMCC in 2015. FRV currently operates projects in five continents.
Source: cleantechnica.com
