Colombia launches 1.52MWp floating solar pilot

July 10, 2023, by Amir Garanovic

A 1.52MWp solar pilot, which uses the combination of floating and ground-mounted solar panels, has been inaugurated in Colombia’s region of Córdoba.

Aquasol floating solar pilot in Colombia (Courtesy of URRÁ)

Built by the public electric utility URRÁ, the floating solar pilot named Aquasol has been officially inaugurated in the municipality of Tierralta, in the south of the Córdoba department, in the presence of Colombia’s minister of mines and energy Irene Vélez Torres

Aquasol was assembled in the reservoir of the URRÁ Hydroelectric Power Plant and has 3,248 photovoltaic modules.

The estimated generation of the plant is 2400MWh per year, and it is currently the largest floating solar system in Latin America, according to URRÁ.

Including ground-mounted solar panels, the project’s capacity is 1.52MWp, with an inverter capacity of 1.35MWac in alternating current.

Irene Vélez Torres said: “This is a very important project that joins other initiatives that already mark the route of the just energy transition by companies in Colombia. A hydroelectric plant that bets on clean and renewable energy to streamline part of its operation is a great message of the progress Colombia making in terms of renewable energy generation.”

In addition to supplying the energy for the consumption by the auxiliary services of the hydroelectric power plant during sunny hours, Aquasol is also a pilot that will allow scientific research that will define the advantages of implementing conventional fixed-structure photovoltaic systems on firm ground.

For this, URRÁ signed agreements with the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, headquartered in Montería, and the Universidad del Norte, in Barranquilla. Furthermore, efforts are being made to sign research and development agreements with other national and foreign universities.