The new plant, completed by EGP’s subsidiary Enel Green Power Chile (EGPC), is capable of generating more than 200 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the power consumption needs of around 100,000 Chilean households while displacing annual emissions of over 100,000 tonnes of CO2. It is located 32 kilometres southwest of Taltal in Chile’s Antofagasta Region.
EGP invested around $150 million in the construction of the new plant, which is supported by a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) and consists of approximately 258,000 polycrystalline silicon solar PV modules installed over an area of around 290 hectares. The electricity generated by the plant will be delivered to Chile’s Central Region Interconnected System (SIC - Sistema Interconectado Central).
EGPC, currently operates a portfolio of plants in Chile that have a combined installed capacity of nearly 700 MW, of which 340 MW comes from wind power, 253 MW from PV solar and 92 MW from hydropower. In addition, EGPC currently has more than 500 MW of projects in execution, which when completed will bring the company’s total installed capacity in Chile to about 1,200 MW. Among these projects is Cerro Pabellón, which will have a gross installed capacity of 48 MW and will be South America’s first geothermal plant.
In other news, EGP will also be investing approximately $175 million in the construction of Lapa solar farm in Brazil. This consists of two facilities at Bom Jesus da Lapa and Lapa in Brazil’s north-eastern state of Bahia. Upon completion, the solar farm will have an installed capacity of 158 MW and will be able to generate nerly 340 GWh of clean solar electricity per year. EGP is constructing the facility through its subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil Participações (EGPB). It is expected to enter service in the second half of 2017 and will be supported by 20-year supply contracts providing for the sale of specified volumes of energy generated by the plants to the Brazilian Chamber of Commercialisation of Electric Energy (Câmara de Comercialização da Energia Elétrica or CCEE).
Image: EGP's Istia solar farm in Italy
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