EDF energizes 115 MW solar park in Chile

EDF Energie Nouvelles, the renewable energy arm of French power utility EDF, has connected to Chile’s power system (Sistema Electrico Nacional – SEN) a 115 MW solar facility near Santiago, in central Chile.

The Santiago Solar project, the company said, is located in the country’s region with the highest consumption of electricity. The facility will sell power partly to unnamed local power distributors under a 15-year PPA, and partly to the spot market.

The project is owned 50% by EDF and 50% by local mining company, Andes Mining Energy (AME). The plant was built with around 400,000 solar modules provided by an undisclosed manufacturer on a 200 hectare surface. Work on the construction of the plant began in December 2016.

This is EDF’s second large-scale operational PV plant in Chile. It also owns and operates in joint venture with Japanese trading company, Marubeni the 146 MW Bolero solar project in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The project incorporates 475,000 PV modules mounted on trackers and covers an area of more than 5 square kilometers.

EDF stressed that its portofolio of operational and under construction wind and solar power projects in Chile has reached 360 MW to date. In Latin America, the company also owns large-scale solar plants in Brazil in partnership with Canadian Solar, and in Mexico.