The Magdalena II solar plant is a 220 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant under construction in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Enel Green Power, a subsidiary of Italian renewable energy company Enel Group, is the owner and developer of the project.
Enel commenced the solar power plant construction in November 2018 and installed the first solar module in April 2019. The project is expected to commence operations by the end of 2019.
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Estimated to cost £127m ($165m), the solar power plant is expected to offset approximately 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the atmosphere. It is estimated to create 200 jobs during modules installation.
Magdalena II is one of the first solar power plants in Mexico being developed to meet the power needs of industrial consumers. The entire power generated by the project will be sold in the Mexico’s wholesale electrical energy market, where power companies buy and sell electricity at the lowest possible price.
Magdalena II solar power plant location
The Magdalena II solar power plant is situated in the municipalities of Tlaxco and Hueyotlipan in the state of Tlaxcala in Mexico. It extends in a total area of 439 hectares.
Magdalena II solar power plant make-up
The Magdalena II photovoltaic solar power plant will feature single-axis solar trackers and bifacial modules. It will feature 6,533 SF7 bifacial solar trackers and approximately 550,000 bifacial modules to generate approximately 600GWh of electricity at full capacity.
Enel proposes to use its “Sustainable Construction Site” model for the Mexican plant construction. The construction model focuses mainly on the rational use of resources, such as water saving systems and recycling.
The plant construction will involve the use of innovative construction practices and equipment such as smart tracking of components along with advanced digital platforms and software solutions. These tools and solutions are anticipated to provide more accurate and reliable data on site activities and help in improving the overall quality of construction.
Solar tracker and modules technology applied
The unique SF7 bifacial solar trackers are capable of producing energy from the front and rear sides. They will also capture the sunlight reflecting on the ground.
The bifacial modules will be placed on SF7 bifacial solar trackers and are capable of providing 17% more bifacial gain under high albedo conditions. The gain is estimated to be 11% under medium albedo conditions.
The SF7 solar trackers are capable of capturing great amount of solar energy with the help of higher mounting height, shadow-free rear, and wider aisles between the rows of trackers. The trackers occupy lesser space and will help in achieving greater production with lesser investment.
The SF7 bifacial solar trackers have horizontal single-axis tracking system with independent rows and are equipped with self-powered PV Series power supply system.
The two-up portrait module mounting and the elimination of backside shading from torque tube helps the bifacial modules achieve high yield.
The cables on the tracker will be managed by a torque tube, which eliminates the need for hanging wires. Just seven piles were installed at the plan to accommodate 90 modules, thereby minimising the number of objects shading the rear side.
The trackers come with a screw less and tool-free module installation thereby completely avoiding maintenance. It also has a lesser number of parts, which helps in achieving faster, easier, and efficient installation process.
Contractors involved
Enel awarded the contract to supply and install SF7 Bifacial trackers for the Magdalena II solar power plant to Soltec, in August 2019.
