January 21, 2018
With the installation of 1,568 solar panels, El Tesoro Commercial Park became the first customer to use EPM’s solar energy solution. The project was developed in collaboration with Innova Solar Colombia (ISC), with EPC work completed by ERCO Energía. Both Innova Solar Colombia and Erco Energía are Innova Capital Partners platform companies.
“We started with the renewable energy business mainly with non-residential customers. In the case of El Tesoro, the panels will be installed in an area of 2,570 square meters. With this solar photovoltaic system we expect to generate approximately 590 megawatts-hours (MWh) annually, which is equivalent to the average consumption of 341 homes,” said Jorge Londoño De la Cuesta, manager of EPM.
For its part, Adriana González, manager of the Commercial Park, said that this photovoltaic solution will generate economic savings of 24 percent of energy consumption. “The solar panels will mainly supply the common areas of El Tesoro. But it is also important to highlight the environmental aspect because we will be generating a lower carbon footprint because we will be stopping emitting more than 119 tons of CO2, “said the manager. According to EPM, the energy generated by a solar photovoltaic system of 100 kilowatts (kWp) installed in Medellín, compensates 28 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually on average. This is equivalent to having 1,492 mature eucalyptus absorbing CO2 and the annual electricity consumption of 81 households. We believe that this puts the city in the 21st century to take advantage of natural resources so that citizens will begin to see more and more solar panels in Medellín. We already have 40 potential customers identified who will be able to benefit from this renewable energy.
El Tesoro Commercial Park will have a combined energy supply solution, with solar and hydraulic energy. It is an interconnected system in which the use of solar energy takes priority, which is fed with the panels installed on its roofs.
González explained that when El Tesoro’s demand is higher than the energy produced by the photovoltaic solar system, the energy will be taken from the conventional EPM distribution network. In this way the full supply of energy for its normal operation is guaranteed.