Bacalar, Q.R. — A new photovoltaic park has been approved for construction in the municipality of Bacalar. The park will be built in the community Manuel Avila Camacho in the municipality of Bacalar.
The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) approved the project earlier this month.
The Balam Solar project is by company Balam Solar, S. de RL de CV, reports a 3.9 billion pesos investment.
According to the document submitted to the General Directorate of Environmental Impact and Risk (DGIRA), construction will amount to $225,109,070 USD across a 2,004-hectare site.
“The project site comprises a total area of 817.19 hectares, predominantly covered by secondary vegetation of low semi-deciduous forest and medium semi-deciduous forest, annual irrigated agriculture, and cultivated pasture.
“Access is mainly via Federal Highway 293 (short route to Mérida) or through farm-to-market roads connected to the state network,” the proponent specifies.
In detail, the Balam Solar project consists of the development, construction, operation and eventual closure of an electricity generation plant using photovoltaic solar technology, integrated with an electrical energy storage system using batteries and with the transformation and evacuation works necessary for its interconnection to the National Electric System.
“The photovoltaic plant consists of three sub-plants, named Balam Solar I, Balam Solar II, and Balam Solar III. In total, the installation comprises 326,700 Risen Energy RSM132-8 720BNDG photovoltaic modules, with a capacity of 720 Wp per module, 10,890 solar trackers, and 605 inverters, with an installed capacity of 202.2 MWac and a nominal capacity of 235.21 MWdc.
“The Bess Balam system will have an installed capacity of 60 MW, four hours of energy storage, and 240 MWh of storage capacity,” the company explained.
The photovoltaic energy production will be connected to the substations of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). The interconnection is planned through a 34.5/230 kV step-up substation, a short 230 kV overhead line, a switching substation and the opening of the existing LT Chunhuhub-Xul Ha 230 kV line, which reduces the need for extensive linear infrastructure.
