Spanish clean energy company Acciona Energía has connected the 246MW El Romero solar plant in Atacama desert, Chile to the county’s Interconnected Central System (SIC).
The $343m El Romero Solar plant features 776,000 polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic modules, spread across 280ha area in the municipality of Vallenar, 645km north of the Santiago.
Acciona Energía Chile general manager José Ignacio Escobar said: “We completed the project in record time.
“We are committed to the objective of achieving a clean and sustainable energy mix in Chile, and the best way to demonstrate this is to complete the projects we undertake to the technical quality standards required and in the shortest possible timescale.”
In addition to reducing CO2 emission of approximately 485,000 tons per year, the plant is designed to generate 505GWh of clean energy per year meeting power needs of 245,000 Chilean homes.
The project is expected to contribute to the company's effort to supply 600GWh of renewable power to distribution concession holders in the Central Interconnected System (SIC) from 2018.
Acciona Energía said it will negotiate private purchase and sale contracts for the electricity produced in the other renewables projects currently under construction in Chile.
Recently, the firm won the rights to build Puerto Libertad photovoltaic complex in Sonora following a tender round in Mexico.
The company is engaged in the development and management of infrastructure, renewable energy, water and services.
Image: The El Romero Solar plant in Chile features 776,000 photovoltaic modules. Photo: courtesy of ACCIONA.