Chilean renewable energy firm Atacama Solar plans to have up to 50 MW capacity ready by next year at what would be the country's first commercial solar power plant. ‘We are working on it step by step. The plan is 50 MW per year, starting in 2012,’ a spokesman said.
Environmental authorities in Northern Region 1 have now approved the Environmental Impact Assessment for the firm's US$733mn Parque Fotovoltaica Atacama Solar project. Construction work has already begun and up to 3 MW capacity should be in place by the end of 2011.
The plant will consist of over 11000 PV units and is planned to have a capacity ultimately of 250 MW. A 40 km 220 kV line will connect the facility to the northern SING power grid. A 1000 ha site in the Tamarugal area of region I has been set aside for the project and associated power infrastructure.
Chile's Atacama desert region is seen as having significant potential for the development of solar power projects owing to the high levels of solar radiation in the area. Despite this, the region does not yet have a commercial plant, though plans for several solar projects have been submitted to environmental authorities.
State copper company Codelco is currently working on a 1MW pilot project alongside Spanish firm Solarpack in Northern Region II, expected online by year-end. Solarpack is also developing the Calama I, II and Pozo Almonte I, II and III solar projects, also in NR II, which will have a combined capacity of 62 MW.
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