Chile

The European Commission has selected the winners of European Hydrogen Bank’s first auction, with bids coming in below €0.50 ($0.54)/kg, while Chile and Namibia have revealed new hydrogen plans.

The Atacama Desert in Argentina and Chile is the sunniest region on earth. Despite the excellent solar radiation resource availability and plenty of room on rooftops and on the ground, solar PV is not as widespread in either country as would have been expected based on the initial deployment of large-scale PV power plants in both countries some ten years ago.

Engie has deployed a 139 MW/638 MWh battery in northern Chile. The storage project is connected to the 181.2 MW Coya solar plant in the Antofagasta region.

Chile’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 8.5 GW at the end of December 2023, on 1.65 GW of new projects for the year. The cumulative PV total represents 25.6% of the nation’s total power generation capacity.

Colbún, Atlas Renewable Energy, and Innergex were the winners of National Copper Corporation of Chile’s (Codelco) latest procurement exercise. They secured 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) to supply clean power from 2026.

Grenergy said its new power purchase agreement (PPA) for 260 MW/1,100 MWh of solar-plus-storage in Chile has a duration of 15 years. The installation is part of the fourth phase of the massive 1 GW/4 GWh Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage project.

Reports of broken module glass with no obvious cause have begun to crop up at large PV projects. Module design, glass manufacturing, and interactions in the field between modules and trackers are at play and a clear solution has yet to emerge. Early signs suggest an update to certification standards may be needed.

PowerChina has finished building a 480 MW solar plant in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, which is recognized for having the world’s highest solar radiation levels.

Thresholding methods have commonly been used to characterize the soiling accumulated on glass coupons. Researchers led by the Sapienza University of Rome have identified 16 automatic thresholding methods that may be used for analyzing soiling on PV panels.

A new initiative by the Chilean Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of National Assets is expected to cover storage projects with an aggregate capacity of 13 GWh, distributed mainly in the regions from Arica y Parinacota to Atacama.