Atlas Renewable Energy, a leading renewable energy company in Latin America along with British mining company Anglo American Plc, a major global mining firm, announced today the signing of the largest solar energy purchase and sale contract in Brazil with a investment of 881 Million Brazilian Reals.
The fresh energy distribution will be through the Atlas Casablanca photovoltaic solar plant, located in the State of Minas Gerais, and is expected to provide about 9 TWh during the life of the contract together with Anglo American for 15 years and will commence at 2022.
The Atlas Casablanca solar plant has an installed capacity of 330MW with more than 800,000 modules. The plant will produce enough energy to supply a city of 1.4 million individuals, according to the average consumption of a household. This contract is part of Anglo American’s plan to use 100% renewable energy for its operations in Brazil as of 2022 and is part of Anglo American Sustainable Mining Plan that has among its aims to reduce by 30% its own CO2 emissions by 2030.
“With this agreement and the contract for the building of a wind power plant at Bahia signed in December, we’ll then be sourcing 90% of our energy from renewable resources, leading to a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions related to our actions .”
Wilfred Bruijn, CEO of Anglo American in Brazil
Atlas Renewable Energy will utilize bifacial modules at the Atlas Casablanca solar plant, a cutting-edge technology in the generation of solar power. These novel solar panels can use the reflection of the sun’s rays from front and back sides, increasing the efficacy of the photoelectric conversion, and therefore increasing the energy generation and efficiency of the plant.
As part of its commitment to the State of Minas Gerais, Atlas Renewable Energy will develop, along with local communities, strategies that contribute to the improvement of the living conditions.
Throughout the construction and functioning of this Atlas Casablanca job, different labour training programs, specially developed for the female workforce will be executed along with the hiring of local labor is going to be prioritized.
Atlas is leading in the new trend of providing clean energy directly to big energy consumers. The kinds of distribution are being changed, making clean resources available to big companies, thus decreasing their carbon footprint and manufacturing costs. Atlas is proud of pioneering, once again, the bilateral solar PPA in a brand new Latin American nation. Our group was the first to implement a solar Private PPA in Chile some 8 years back, and now we do this in Brazil. We’d like to acknowledge and congratulate Anglo-American’s leadership for their dedication to become a more sustainable institution.”
Carlos Barrera, Atlas Renewable Energy CEO
Luis Pita, General Manager of Atlas Renewable Energy for Brazil, emphasized: “This contract represents a leadership stance by Anglo American to show its dedication to the use of renewable energy in its operations, in addition to Atlas’s capacity to develop bilateral contracts for clean energy source with top notch businesses that share our interest in protecting and preserving the environment.
The Atlas Casablanca project will be an important step in the development of the solar power in a state as important as Minas Gerais.”
Luiz Ballester, Commercial Director for Atlas Renewable Energy in Brazil, also commented:”This job is a good example of the extra value that Atlas can offer thanks to our ability to produce valuable, economical and tailor-made options for industrial partners.”
“The Brazilian industrial sector is not only aware about optimizing its efficiency but also worried about their carbon footprint, but here is where a company like Atlas comes into play, we’ve got the expertise and financial capabilities to provide a significant differentiator for those businesses by executing clean energy solutions from development to the full operation.”
