AES unit receives environmental impact approval for 862.5 MW solar-wind project in Chile

From pv magazine Latin America

The Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) of the Chilean region of Antofagasta has approved the environmental impact study for the 862.5 MW Parque Terra Energía Renovable hybrid solar-wind project, which will consist of a photovoltaic plant with a capacity of 512.5 MW and a 350 MW wind farm, to be located in the commune of Taltal in the northern province of Antofagasta.

The $750 million project, presented by Energía Eólica Paposo and approved by the SEA, is scheduled to start feeding energy into the national electrical grid in the first half of 2027. Energía Eólica Paposo is a subsidiary of AES, part of US energy company AES Corporation.

The 512.5 MW PV park will comprise more than 1.1 million panels and arranged “in chains,” each of which will be made up of 28 panels.

“In this context, the photovoltaic park will be made up of a total of 164 blocks of photovoltaic panels made up of a total of 13,117 chains mounted on support structures following a mobile N-S axis,” the project report reads.

For its part, the wind farm will have an installed capacity of 350 MW and include 50 generators of 7 MW each.

The project is expected to have a lifespan of 35 years; the construction phase is estimated to take two years, which will require a maximum of 900 workers in the construction phase, while 20 people are expected to be hired for the operation phase.