Lighthouse, a subsidiary of industrial conglomerate Difare Group, inaugurated the 82 MW Faro de San Marcos solar plant on Nov. 5.

The facility, located in Baños de San Vicente, in Ecuador’s Santa Elena province, has entered commercial operation and features more than 105,000 bifacial solar modules. According to the developer, it is Ecuador’s largest operational and privately owned solar power plant.

The project spans 49.3 hectares and required an investment of $50 million in its first phase. Construction took eight months and employed an average of 400 workers.

According to technical information released during project development, the installation features fixed-tilt, dual-slope mounting structures, string inverters and transformer stations. Its installed capacity exceeds the 75 MW initially planned when the company announced the project in December 2025.

Lighthouse expects the plant to generate approximately 106 GWh of electricity annually, equivalent to the consumption of around 15,000 households, according to company estimates. The electricity will be delivered through the distribution network operated by Ecuador’s state-owned utility Corporación Nacional de Electricidad (CNEL EP).

Initial electricity customers include Corporación El Rosado, retail chain Tía and Difare. The project enables these companies to source solar electricity through the existing grid without installing PV systems at their own facilities.

Commercial operations have begun ahead of the original schedule, which called for commissioning in the first quarter of 2027. Lighthouse Península, established in Ecuador in 2024 and incorporated into the Difare Group in 2025, is pursuing further solar development. During the inauguration, Difare Group Executive Chairman Carlos Cueva Mejía announced plans for another project on adjacent land, with an estimated investment of $80 million.

The commissioning adds to a growing number of privately developed solar projects in Ecuador. In Santa Elena province, the 65 MW Río de Oro Energy solar plant began supplying electricity to commercial customers in September. Developed by GPS Group, the project represents an investment of more than $50 million and is expected to generate approximately 90 GWh annually.

Ecuador has been seeking to accelerate private investment in renewable energy following the electricity shortages and widespread blackouts of 2024. In August 2025, the government had authorized 643 MW of private renewable energy projects, including solar and hydropower. The total comprised 179.1 MW of distributed generation projects intended to supply the electricity market and 464.6 MW of self-generation capacity for corporate consumers, with the option to sell surplus electricity.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Ecuador had 131.35 MW of cumulative installed solar PV capacity at the end of 2025, up from approximately 84 MW in 2024.