Voltalia announces the start of the construction of SSM1&2, a 320-megawatt solar projectincluding 50 megawatts of additional capacity contracted since Voltalia’s last press release. The SSM1&2 solar project is backed by five long-term power-sales contracts with an average maturity of 16 years for a total capacity of 320 megawatts. Initially a 32-megawatt project1, it has grown tenfold thanks to new long-term contracts signed with a series of buyers, including a corporate PPA with Braskem, a petrochemical company, and a utility PPA with Copel, a long term partner of Voltalia which is an investor in Voltalia’s SMG wind farm since 2015 and which committed in may 20212 to purchase VSM 2 and 4, two wind farms developed and built by Voltalia. When it will be commissioned during the first half of 2022, SSM1&2 will become Voltalia’s largest solar project worldwide. SSM1&2 is part of the Serra Branca cluster, located in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Norte. Historically a cluster of wind farms, with record high production levels (load factor consistently above 50% allowing to generate one the country’s most competitive energy), Serra Branca is now a combined wind-and-solar cluster, benefitting from common infrastructures and operating synergies. The two sources of power are complementary since wind is blowing mainly during the night at Serra Branca. Voltalia is retaining ownership of a significant part of the 2.4-gigawatt site, while selling the other part to partners who also buy construction and maintenance services from Voltalia.