Chile awards concession for 607 MW wind park

Chilean ministries of energy and public lands have awarded to Santiago-based power generator Colbun SA a lease for the development of the 607 MW Horizonta wind farm on government-owned land. 

The project will be constructed on an 8,000 ha plot of public land, located 70 km northeast from Taltal, Antofagasta region.

The investment for the project is estimated to reach around US$971 million. 

The concession establishes a study period of up to 48 months after the signing of the agreement between the parties, while the construction phase will allow a period of up to 36 months.

This concession is part of the second bidding process, launched by the Chilean government,  aimed at promoting wind projects on lands located in Taltal, one of the areas with the best quality of winds for this type of initiatives.

The 607 MW Horizonte project will represent about half of the country's current installed wind generation, which is 1,429 MW. 

As we reported in February, Chile has announced 4.2 GW renewables tender in order to supply the energy needs of the regulated customers of the Interconnected Systems (SIC and SING) from January 1, 2023, for 20 years. 

The process began last December with the submission of the preliminary bases to the electricity distribution companies and continued on January 25 with the publication on the page.

One of the main changes in the bidding was the design of the blocks, where there are 3,540 GWh/year 24-hours-blocks and 660 GWh/year in quarterly or annual blocks.

We have recently informed about other wind projects in Chile:

• 33 MW Cuel wind farm in region VIII
• 170 MW Sarco wind farm in Atacama
• 129 MW Aurora wind farm in the Los Lagos region
• 82 MW Punta Sierra wind project in Ovalle
• 10 MW Cabo Negro wind project
• 36 MW wind project in Los Lagos region
• 112 MW Sierra Gorda wind farm
• 146 MW Bolero solar power plant
• 115 MW Cabo Leones I Wind Project in Atacama