Gran Solar-Total Eren tie-up wins Galapagos solar-storage project

An alliance between Ecuadorian renewables investor Gransolar and French independent power producer Total Eren has been awarded a 25-year concession in Ecuador’s tender for the construction and operation of the Conolophus solar-plus-storage system on the Galapagos Islands.

Tthe Ecuadorian ministry of energy and non-renewable natural resources announced the award on Sunday.

The Gransolar-Total Eren consortium was the only one left standing in the over-a-year long tender process after four other pre-qualified bidders dropped out of the race before submitting envelopes with technical offers.

The Ecuadorian-French duo won the right to build and operate a 14.8-MW solar PV plant, a 40.9-MWh battery storage system and transmission infrastructure that will connect the islands of Baltra and Santa Cruz. Also part of the project is the deployment of a micro-grid central control system that will integrate all existing and future generation and storage plants in an effort to reduce diesel consumption on the archipelago, the ministry said.

The Conolophus project will be realised with 100% private capital and pull an investment of USD 63 million (EUR 53.4m), minister Juan Carlos Bermeo Calderon said in the ministry’s press release.

After being the only bidder to present the technical offer, the Gran Solar-Total Eren consortium proceeded into the next stage and presented an economic offer of USD 458.88 per MWh.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.847)

An earlier version of this story misidentifed the nationality of Gransolar and erroneously attributed the participation and win in the tender to Spanish solar PV specialist Gransolar.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!