Arctech, the world’s leading tracking, racking, and BIPV solutions provider announced starting shipment of 2P tracker SkySmart II for the Planeta Rica Project in Colombia, marking the company’s first partnership with a local EPC client in the country.

2021 has seen both the return of proven policies in Latin America in the form of auctions, as well as progress in new areas of the energy transition. It is estimated that Colombia will nearly triple its wind and solar capacity in 2022. thanks to a pipeline of projects tied to renewables auctions held in 2019 and 2021. BloombergNEF expects the country will commission 654MW this year and it should add over 1.2GW of wind and solar projects per year over 2023-24. The growth means that Colombia will displace Argentina as the fourth largest renewables market in the region in terms of investment and new additions, after Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

The project is a joint venture with Akuo Energy, a leading French developer and operator of renewable energy projects.MPC Energy Solutions (MPCES) and Akuo Energy have commenced construction of Parque Solar Planeta Rica.

Energy production from the Planeta Rica project is expected to start in early Q3 2022. The Planeta Rica plant will have an installed capacity of 26.55 MWp, while delivering enough electricity to satisfy the energy needs of over 10,000 households in Colombia. When the plant is commissioned, it will avoid the emission of over 4,000 tons of CO2 each year and provide a sustainable source of clean electricity.

The project is equipped with SkySmart II tracker, the first IEC-certified multi-point parallel drive tracking system; Adopting the self-developed multi-point parallel drive technology, Arctech SkySmart II provides a 200% increase in wind resistance than other 2P tracking systems and a 52% reduction in foundations than 1P tracking systems. With help of artificial intelligence, tracking control strategy, cloud strategy based on real-time meteorological data, bifacial power generation strategy and closed-loop feedback strategy that shares parameters with DC combiner and string inverter, SkySmart II can adapt to various terrains, weather and land conditions and enable up to 7% of additional energy generation.

Arctech has a portfolio of close to 1.6 GW across the Latam region. The company has been supporting clients in Latam region from five local offices in Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. The team of 40 people with rich experience has been providing engineering, manufacturing and after-sales support for Arctech’s local operation in Latam region, with an intend to source materials for its tracking systems from within the region in response to the favorable policies.