Sobradinho

Floating solar panels on a hydro-dam

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The Sobradinho dam was built in the 1970s on one of Brazil’s main rivers: Rio São Francisco. Its flow is used to generate electricity thanks to the hydroelectric dam installed on the reservoir.

In 2016, the Brazilian government decided to launch an R&D program to study the hybridization of a floating photovoltaic power plant with a hydroelectric dam. The research was conducted with local academics to measure the impact of the plant and carry out the necessary studies.

As a result, the project submitted by Ciel & Terre and Laketricity to build a floating solar power plant was born, enabling the hybridization of a floating solar power plant with a hydroelectric dam to be put into practice. This is the first FPV (Floating PhotoVoltaic) project in South America.

The Sobradinho project not only avoids the evaporation of the equivalent of 3 Olympic-sized swimming pools a year, but also prevents the emission of almost 700 tons of CO2.

Our role on the project

  • Développement & gestion du projet
  • Consultation des parties prenantes & obtention du permis de construire
  • Négociation du PPA & Financement
  • Assistance & Supervision de la construction

1005 kWc Power generation capacity

0.01% Coverage ratio

About Sobradinho project

Location Bahias, Brazil
Capacity 1005 kWc
Domestic consumption equivalence 239 foyers
Tons of CO2 emissions saved 691 tonnes
Operational start date August 2019
Application Hydroelectric dam

About the Hydroelectric dam

Pond size 421400 ha
Maximum depth 35 m
Water type Douce
Power plant size 1.08 ha
% of coverage 0.01%

Technical specifications

Number of solar panels installed Bahias 3792
Panels specifications 265 W, 60 cells, Canadian Solar

About anchoring

Anchoring type En profondeur
Anchor type Blocs béton

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