Chile environment agency approves 392MW of solar PV projects

Chilean environmental assessment agency SEA has approved two large-scale PV plants with a combined generation capacity of 392 MW.

In early September, SEA presented the environmental impact for the projects. One of them, the Llanta Solar plant, will have a total capacity of 112 MW while the other, Alfa Solar, will have a total capacity of 280 MW.

112 MW Llanta Solar will be developed in Chile’s Atacama Desert region, in the municipality of Diego de Almagro. According to MSN Solar 5, the local firm which will develop the new facilities, the total project investment is estimated at US$235.2 million.

280 MW Alfa Solar will be developed in Chile’s Atacama Desert region, in the municipality of Maria Elena. According to Pleiades New Energy Ventures, the local firm which will develop the new facilities, the total project investment is estimated at US$ 560 million.

SEA also approved a 369 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) park in the northern Antofagasta region in last June. The total investment for the project, dubbed Sol del Desierto, is estimated at US$823 million. The Chilean subsidiary of First Solar, Inc., the US solar developer and technology provider, will develop the solar PV park project.

Two solar projects arranged project financing in Chile this summer. In early September we reported that Abengoa secured a US$205 million bridge financing arranged by BTG Pactual for the construction and operation of the 110 MW Cerro Dominador solar project. Earlier on 7 July we published that SunEdison, Inc. closed a US$155 million non-recourse debt financing arrangement to develop a 72.8 MW merchant solar power plant.

The northern Antofagasta region has rich solar irradiance levels with numerous large projects already built or approved in the area. The place is ideal to develop solar projects due to the fact that there is not only a high level of solar radiation but there is also transmission network and centres of power demand.