- Utility Colbún has inaugurated a solar-plus-storage project with a 32MWh battery energy storage system in the Atacama region, the first of an 800MW deployment target.
- Colbún has plans to deploy 800MW of energy storage in Chile, including a five-hour, 240MW/1,200MWh co-located unit it proposed for the northern region of Arica and Parinacota in August.
Utility Colbún has inaugurated a solar-plus-storage project with a 32MWh battery energy storage system in the Atacama region, the first of an 800MW deployment target. The Diego de Almagro project is a 330-hectare site comprising 470,000 solar panels totalling 230MW of power and an 8MW/32MWh BESS allowing for four hours of full power discharge. This project is Colbún’s first operational energy storage unit, the largest solar PV park in the Atacama region. The overall project was worth US$150 million of investment, of which the BESS was US$11 million.
Colbún has plans to deploy 800MW of energy storage in Chile, including a five-hour, 240MW/1,200MWh co-located unit it proposed for the northern region of Arica and Parinacota in August. That project is currently undergoing an environmental impact assessment (EIA). The firm also plans to have 4,000MW of renewable capacity online by 2030, moving away from a model of procuring renewable energy from other companies.
Chile recently passed major legislation to incentivise the deployment of stationary energy storage systems (ESS) by allowing standalone units to receive income on the country’s electricity market. Escobar stated in a press release meeting during the Diego de Almagro Project’s announcement, “Today, being renewable or having green energy is not enough. We must find ways for this investment in clean energy to be well done, with timely information and involvement of the communities, and developing productive chains that generate local value”.