Renewable energy developer Zelestra has commenced full operations at the San Martín solar plant in southern Peru, now the country’s largest solar facility, the company said on Thursday.
The 300-megawatt direct current (MWdc) project, located in the La Joya district of Arequipa, was delivered in under 18 months by Zelestra’s in-house engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) team. It is expected to generate 830 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity annually, equivalent to the consumption of more than 440,000 homes, and avoid more than 166,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
Power from the plant will be supplied to Peruvian utility Kallpa Generación under a long-term power purchase agreement, supporting efforts to diversify the country’s energy mix.
“The successful delivery of San Martín reinforces our commitment to a customer-first approach,” said Leo Moreno, CEO of Zelestra. “By leveraging our global expertise in engineering, procurement, and construction, we can successfully co-build tailored solutions that bring projects to life on time and on budget.”
The project supported approximately 900 jobs at peak construction and was completed on schedule and within budget, the company said.
“We are proud to see the most ambitious solar project in Peru now fully operational, and we look forward to a long-term partnership with Kallpa in delivering clean, reliable energy for years to come,” Moreno added.
Zelestra currently has more than 7 gigawatts (GW) of solar and battery storage capacity in development across Latin America, including 1.7GW under contract. The company was recently ranked among the top 10 global clean energy suppliers to corporate customers by BloombergNEF and placed second in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
