Chilean developer builds solar plant on tailings dam

Guacolda Energía has completed a 3 MW solar project in Tierra Amarilla, Chile. It is the the world’s first solar project to be built on a tailings dam.

Image: Sonami / Pucrobre

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From pv magazine LatAm

Chilean energy company Guacolda Energía has finished building a 3 MW solar plant on a tailings dam in Tierra Amarilla, in the sunny Atacama region in northern Chile.

The $3 million project is located on a 4.5-hectare plot of land. The energy it generates will be used for the mining operations of Chilean company Pucobre. René Opazo, operations manager for Guacolda Energía, described the installation as “a milestone for more sustainable mining.”

Tailings dams are earth-fill embankment dams that store the byproducts of mining operations, such as ground rocks, water, and gangue minerals.

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