Voltalia, an international player in renewable energies, will expand its Toco complex which, thanks to this new contract, confirms its position as the largest battery storage complex in France with a capacity of 25.6 megawatt hours.
Voltalia is the sole winner of the fifth period of the CRE 4 tender for non-interconnected areas for ground-based solar power plants in French Guiana.
The project, called “Parc Sable Blanc”, combines a five-megawatt photovoltaic power plant with a lithium-ion battery storage facility with a capacity of 5 megawatts and of 9.3 megawatt-hours.
Located in the commune of Mana, in the heart of the very dynamic Western Guiana, close to the ocean coast and the border with Suriname, “Parc Sable Blanc” was designed to produce during the day thanks to excellent sunshine and inject its production on the Guyanese electrical grid during the peak from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. after sunset.
Fully developed by Voltalia, the “Parc Sable Blanc” project will also be built and operated by its teams. It will benefit from a guaranteed selling tariff for 20 years. Once commissioned in 2023, “Parc Sable Blanc” will increase the power of the Toco complex to 19.3 megawatts with a capacity of 25.6 megawatt-hours.
Voltalia currently operates solar, hydraulic, biomass and storage power plants in French Guiana with a combined capacity of 31 megawatts, allowing the coverage of nearly 10% of the main electricity grid consumption.
Sébastien Clerc, CEO, concludes: "We are very proud to have won this new project which once again strengthens our presence on the territory that saw the birth of Voltalia 16 years ago. “Parc Sable Blanc” will produce green electricity at a more competitive cost than thermal electricity. Moreover, in a region in strong development whose electricity grid, not interconnected, remains fragile, we wanted to participate in improving the predictability of electricity production injected into the grid. I would like to thank our teams very warmly who, through this new success, continue to make French Guiana an excellent showcase of Voltalia's expertise and innovation capacity."
