Abengoa to build 110MW solar power plant in Chile

Spain-based Abengoa has secured a contract from the Ministry of Energy of the Chilean Government and Corfo to build a 110 MW solar plant using tower technology.

The project, which will be located in the Antofagasta region, northern Chile, will be the first solar-thermal plant for direct electricity production in South America and is part of Chile’s national renewable energy programme.

The company won the international tender launched by the Chilean Ministry of Energy and Corfo to establish the first concentrated solar power plant in Latin America.

Work on the project is set to commence in the second half of 2014.

To be built using solar-thermal tower technology that uses a series of mirrors, the solar plant will have a thermal storage system with 17.5 hours of storage.

It is claimed to prevent an approximate 643,000t of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

The project will be granted direct subsidies from the Chilean Government and the European Union.

It will also be backed by the Inter-American Development Bank, KFW Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, the Clean Technology Fund and Canadian Fund.

Since 1987, Abengoa has carried out numerous projects in Chile while the new plant will consolidate its commitment to solar-thermal energy and demonstrate the huge potential for this technology in this country.

The company currently has 1,223 MW of installed capacity in commercial operation with 430 MW under construction and 320 MW in pre-construction, including solar-thermal and photovoltaic technology.