Although official statistics report that grid-connected PV capacity reached 1.82 GW as of the end of December 2017, the completion of two large-scale projects totaling 215 MW in early January has raised Chile’s total installed power to around 2.04 GW. The 69.5 MW Javiera PV plant is located in Taltal, in Chile's northern region. Image: NEXTracker Chile’s cumulative installed solar PV power has reached around 1.829 GW at the end of last year, according to the December Monthly Report on renewables published by the country’s National Energy Commission (CNE). The country’s current accumulated power, however, has already exceeded 2 GW, as in early January two large solar plants were connected to the local grid, the 115 MW Santiago solar power plant by French EDF and the 100 MW Pelicano PV plant by U.S. solar manufacturer, SunPower. The report also reveals that, during the month of December, new PV installations with a combined power of 48 MW were connected to the Chilean grid, while PV plants under test fell, from 314 MW to 281 MW. The total number of solar plants currently under construction also fell slightly, from 290 MW to 281 MW, while the combined volume of all authorized solar projects remained unchanged at 15.62 GW. As for PV projects currently under review, CNE said its total capacity increased slightly from 7.566 GW to 7.575 GW. If the two new plants inaugurated in January are also considered, newly installed PV capacity in Chile for the past 12 months reached around 1 GW. The CNE report also shows that in December, Chile’s Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) has accepted for review two new solar projects eligible for the PMDG program, which supports projects up to 9 MW in size. In terms of new capacity for distributed generation, the report reveals that the total capacity of all the generation systems for renewable sources and co-generation connected to the network has reached a total of just 12.9 MW at the end of last December, a very negligible amount, given Chile’s high solar potential. Emiliano joined pv magazine in March 2017. He has been reporting on solar and renewable energy since 2009.
Two solar projects completed in January, with a combined capacity of 215 MW, have pushed Chile’s total installed power to around 2.04 GW, according to a report by the National Energy Commission (CNE). The government has also been pushing for more renewable energy sources and is looking at ways to expand its use of wind power. Better news came from photovoltaic projects currently under review, with the CNE reporting a slight increase from 7.566 GW to 7.575 GW, while the total volume of all authorised solar projects stood unchanged at 15.62 GW.