Atacama Desert is transforming into a "green" energy storage hub
Kyiv • UNN
A $500 million solar-plus-storage system has been launched in Chile. The 200 MW facility is capable of powering the grid for 6.5 hours.
The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is rapidly becoming one of the world's major energy storage hubs thanks to large-scale investments in solar generation and battery systems. This was reported by Bloomberg, according to UNN.
Details
A major new project in the region was launched by ContourGlobal, backed by the KKR investment fund. On Wednesday, the company inaugurated a solar-plus-storage facility worth nearly $500 million.
The system is capable of storing electricity during the day and supplying it at night. According to the company, the batteries can discharge 200 megawatts of energy for 6.5 hours, and the project is being called the longest-duration utility-scale energy storage system in Latin America.
Why Chile has become a magnet for investors
"In Latin America, Chile is the place to go,"
According to him, the country attracts investors due to stable market rules, high demand for electricity, and the rapid development of renewable energy.
Bloomberg notes that due to northern Chile's vast solar resources, electricity production during the day often exceeds demand. This creates challenges for the power grid, which is why the country is actively deploying battery energy storage systems (BESS). Currently, more than 3,000 megawatts of BESS capacity are already operational or undergoing testing in Chile, and this figure could rise by another 5,400 megawatts by the end of the year.
Energy storage becomes the key to decarbonization
ContourGlobal CEO Antonio Cammisecra stated that energy storage allows renewable generation to become stable and predictable.
"Thanks to energy storage, renewable energy sources are being transformed from intermittent to programmable energy solutions. This transformation is essential if we want to lower system costs, accelerate decarbonization, and ensure that renewable energy sources can truly replace traditional generation on a large scale,"