Equinor and its Brazilian subsidiary Rio Energy have commenced commercial operations at the Serra da Babilônia solar facility, marking the company’s debut hybrid solar-wind power complex in Brazil.
The hybrid power complex combines 140MW of solar capacity with 223MW of wind capacity.
The Serra da Babilônia solar plant is co-located with the existing Serra da Babilônia wind project, creating a structure that leverages both solar and wind resources.
This generates electricity at different times of the day and across different seasons, thereby reducing intermittency and improving grid stability.
Equinor power executive vice-president Helge Haugane said: “Hybrid projects that effectively integrate solar and wind technologies support a stable and reliable energy supply while enhancing value creation, in line with Equinor’s strategy.
“Such projects and the integration of technologies will be important for building a competitive power business.”
The hybrid complex benefits from operational synergies by sharing infrastructure between the solar and wind facilities, resulting in efficiencies during operations and maintenance, according to Equinor’s news release.
This approach is said to reduce material cost compared to developing a standalone solar project.
The Serra da Babilônia solar facility is expected to generate 236GWh of electricity per year, enough to power 143,000 Brazilian households.
The generated energy will be marketed in the domestic power market via Danske Commodities, an energy trading arm of Equinor.
Equinor Brazil senior vice-president and country manager Veronica Coelho said: “Brazil is a key area for Equinor’s long-term growth. Building on a solid portfolio of oil and natural gas, including Raia that will supply around 15% of Brazil’s total gas demand, we are advancing towards a more integrated and diverse energy offering in the country.
“With Serra da Babilônia Solar operational, we now have around 600MW of solar and wind capacity in power production, which we can further optimise through our trading arm Danske Commodities based in São Paulo.”
Acquired in 2023, Rio Energy serves as Equinor’s growth platform for onshore power generation in Brazil.