Ecuador’s Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources has launched a tender for the construction of a 14.8 MW/40.9 MWh of solar+storage facility.
The Conolophus project will reduce diesel consumption on Santa Cruz Island in Galapagos National Park, as well as the adjacent island of Baltra.
Interested developers had until Tuesday of this week to pre-qualify for the procurement exercise. The tender final results will be announced at the end of the first quarter of 2021.
“The project is part of a private initiative,” the government said in March, when the project was first announced.
It is the third project of its type for the archipelago. Another 1 MW project, including a 2.2 MWh battery storage system, was announced two years ago. The project has the financial support of the Korean Institute of Development and Technology (KIAT).
Another project under the KIAT program is a PV installation with storage, built by Siemens on Isabela Island. The company completed one of the world’s first 100%-renewable island power systems in October 2018. The $13 million project, part of the government’s Zero Fossil Fuels on Galapagos policy, features more than 3,000 polycrystalline PV modules from Chinese manufacturer Trina Solar, for 952 kW of PV capacity.
