BRAZIL – Vale S.A.  started the installation of the transmission line for its Sol do Cerrado solar project, under construction in the southeast state Minas Gerais.

Vale is a major Brazillian mining company whose scope also includes railways, ports, terminals, energy and steel making. In January 2022, the company started the construction of a transmission line for its 766 MWp Sol do Cerrado solar project.

"The transmission line will operate with a voltage of 230 kV and will be approximately 9.5 miles (15 km) long, in a double circuit, with 39 towers. The transmission line will connect the Coletora Sol do Cerrado substation, also under construction, to the connection bay at Jaíba substation, for the flow of energy to the national grid," the company said in a statement.

Vale is investing $500 million in Sol do Cerrado as part of a $2 billion plan to reduce emissions with the aim of becoming carbon neutral.

The power generated by the solar park should cover 13% of the company's estimated demand in 2025, reports BNamericas.

With Sol do Cerrado, Vale expects that its operations in Brazil will use only renewable energy by 2025, while its operations in the rest of the world will use only renewables by 2030.

Operations are scheduled to start in the second half of 2022.

Source: BNAmericas; Vale