Chile

Taking a renewable energy project into its operational phase calls for several workstreams to be synchronized. The one that perhaps jumps out the most is permitting processes: correctly navigating the intricate and time-sensitive steps for licenses and permits. Regardless, each workstream calls for a different set of skills, and because of interlinked chicken-or-egg causality, it is difficult to say which single element is most important in a project’s development. However, there is an unsung element of the financial closing which has as much, if not more, impact on a project’s profitability than the cost of debt does: the underlying terms and conditions.

Fresh from the success of its 7.7 MW microgrid at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine in Western Australia, Aggreko has signed a 10-year contract with the global gold miner to install at 25.9 MW hybrid solar and thermal power solution at its Salares Norte mine site, located at a height of 4,500 meters in the Andes Mountains.

The country’s energy regulator will publish the auction’s final bidding terms in December. Projects awarded contracts under the auction will supply electricity under 15-year power purchase agreements for 2026-2040.

Scientists at the University of New South Wales have developed a model to determine the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) by also considering historical weather data at specific locations. According to them, powering electrolyzers with off-grid solar offers the advantage of avoiding the expense of a grid connection and exposure to the risk of delays in both the physical connection and the approval process.

The government has published new rules for distributed generation which will come into force on November 6.

Developer Solarity has completed the first floating PV array to be connected to the national distribution network under Chile’s net billing scheme. The plant will supply 100% of project owner Hortifrut’s energy needs, while allowing it to sell excess power to the grid.

In a national park in Chile, a hydropower plant has been combined with a solar system and battery storage to replace diesel generation.

Mainstream Renewable Power is developing the $934 million Huemul wind and PV project, the second phase of the $1.8 billion Andes Renovables renewable energy platform, which is expected to have a total capacity of 1.3 GW when completed. A third phase is currently in the financing stage.

Chile’s National Electric Coordinator has granted approval for a new First Solar PV project to supply auxiliary grid services on a commercial basis. The installation has performed better than gas turbine technologies.

French energy giant Engie recently commissioned a solar module testing facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert, a region which has the world’s highest solar radiation. Thore Müller – head of bifacial PV R&D and solar services at Engie Laborelec, talked to pv magazineabout the advantages of testing panels, inverters and cleaning systems in hot, arid environments.