Acciona Energía will build a solar photovoltaic plant in Chile for the electric power company E-CL, a subsidiary of GDF Suez.
The plant will have a capacity of 7.2MW, which is the first stage of the 300MW project planned in the Atacama Desert.
To be built under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, the plant will be connected to the Sistema Interconectado del Norte Grande (SING).
ACCIONA will be responsible for the design, engineering, supply, construction and start-up of the plant and will undertake its operation and maintenance for two years.
The construction work will take place over eight months and once the plant enters service Acciona Energía will undertake its operation and maintenance for two years.
The PV facility will generate around 18.1GWh of clean electricity per year, enough power to meet the demands of nearly 7,000 northern Chilean households, and will avoid the emission of almost 19,000kg of CO2 to the atmosphere from conventional coal-fired power stations.
Acciona Energía Chile general manager Alfredo Solar said: "We are very pleased to be working with E-CL so that Chile can take advantage of its enormous solar power potential and make progress towards the implementation of a more sustainable energy system, based on non-conventional renewables that are completely viable in sites like the one where this project is located".
Currently, Acciona Energía is building a 94MWp shared ownership plant in South Africa and another 24MWp facility in Australia – under an EPC contract – which will become the biggest photovoltaic plant in that country.
Image: Acciona Energía to build solar PV plant Chile. Photo: courtesy of ACCIONA Energy SA.
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