Colombia's 144.1 MW Escobales Solar Complex Fully Operational

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 11, U.S. solar mounting supplier GameChange Energy announced that the Escobales solar complex near Ibagué in Colombia's Tolima Department has been fully placed into commercial operation. The project was jointly developed by Colombia's Celsia and the UK's Cubico Sustainable Investments, with PowerChina serving as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. It comprises six solar plants with a total DC installed capacity of 144.1 MW, equipped with more than 242,000 bifacial PV modules, and is expected to generate approximately 257 million kWh of electricity annually. The six plants had previously been placed into commercial operation in phases between December 2025 and March 2026.

The project adopted a combined installation scheme of single-axis trackers and fixed mounting structures. Of the total, 97.82 MW uses GameChange Energy's Genius Tracker single-axis tracking system, and 46.28 MW uses MaxTwin east-west fixed mounting structures. Both schemes are compatible with large-format bifacial PV modules and allow module arrangement to be adjusted according to terrain conditions in different areas. According to the AC-side figures published by Celsia, the six plants have a combined installed capacity of 119.4 MW, which represents a different measurement basis from the project's 144.1 MW DC capacity.

During construction, the project team encountered hard soil, undulating terrain, customs delays and lagging regulatory approvals. In some areas, actual geological conditions differed from the preliminary survey, making direct pile driving unable to meet construction requirements; the engineering team therefore added pre-drilling operations and adjusted the designs of pile foundations and mounting structure foundations. In addition, three areas originally planned for construction were excluded from the project scope, requiring more than 100 sets of module mounting structures to be rearranged. GameChange Energy and PowerChina readjusted the structural layout and used existing on-site materials to complete the modifications, avoiding the need to procure additional structural components.

The construction achievements of the Escobales project also reflect the on-site engineering adaptability required of large-scale PV plants. Fixed mounting structures and trackers are suited to different terrain conditions, and the construction team resolved construction issues caused by changes in geological conditions and site scope adjustments by modifying foundation schemes and module layouts. With the project fully operational, the six plants are expected to supply approximately 257 GWh of electricity to Colombia's power system each year.