14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes to picking a site for the construction of a solar photovoltaic plant, the first place to look is in the desert. This is because sunlight is the one thing that deserts do not lack, which can only mean that the solar plant will almost never be idling.
The folks at United States-based company SunEdison appear to be well aware of this trick of the trade, hence their decision to develop a 100-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
On its website, SunEdison details that the plant was inaugurated this past June 6 by President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, and that it is the largest facility of its kind in Latin America and one of the largest in the world.
Thus, the solar plant comprises 310,000 modules that span over 28 hectares, and it is estimated to cough out about 270GWh of electricity. Apparently, this output would suffice to meet the demand of as many as 125,000 households.
However, it won't be homes that this facility, dubbed the Amanecer Solar plant, will attend to. On the contrary, SunEdison has entered a partnership with iron and steel producer CAP Group, which is to purchase the power produced at this plant.
The CAP Group expects that, thanks to this offtake agreement, it will manage to have as much as 15% of its overall energy demand met by solar. In doing so, the company will cut its annual diesel consumption by an impressive 71 million liters.
“Our strategic alliance with asserts CAP's commitment to sustainability and reaffirms the company's support of the renewable energy goals laid out by the authorities,” the President of the CAP Group, Roberto de Andraca B., said in a statement.
“This plant demonstrates that photovoltaic solar energy is an ideal way of diversifying the energy matrix in , reducing costs and contributing towards meeting the demand for clean and sustainable energy,” added Jose Perez with SunEdison.
Furthermore, “SunEdison has now interconnected 150 MW in the Atacama Desert - the 100 MW Amanecer Solar CAP plant plus a 50 MW power plant in San Andres. We are firmly committed to the future of clean energy production and the development of the energy industry in Chile.”
According to recent figures released by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, Latin America added a total of 281MW of new solar PV back in 2013. As a result of an increase in energy demand in this part of the world, Latin America is expected to add even more clean energy capacity by the end of this year.