Shell Energy Brazil, a local subsidiary of oil and gas giant Shell, plans to build a solar park of up to 2.1GW in Minas Gerais, Brazil, the Brazilian state government has announced. Under the newly signed agreement of intent, the European company will invest around $1.5 billion to develop five photovoltaic power plants in the northern, northwestern and central regions of the state.

More specifically, Shell will research facilities in cities such as Corinto in the central region, Arinos and Brazillandia de Minas in the north-west, and Janoba and Varze da Palma in the north of the state. . If all five PV plants are built, the government expects their combined output to meet the needs of a town of 2 million inhabitants.

Construction works are scheduled to start in January 2023, while commissioning of the first plant is scheduled for January 2025. Minas Gerais currently has 2.4GW of installed solar capacity, according to local solar association Absolar.Editor/XingWentao