The biggest photovoltaic plant in Latin America

Atacama, Chile, in October — the biggest power plant of its kind to be installed in Latin America to date, and one of the ten largest in the world. The project sees ACCIONA making a significant commitment to photovoltaic technology with this project, which strengthens the Company’s presence in Chile..

The figures relating to El Romero Solar speak for themselves. The plant will consist of no less than 777,000 solar panels, which stretched out in a single line would run for some 111 km. The solar capture surface area will be equivalent to 211 football pitches. Total investment is USD 343 million.

Located in the district of Vallenar in Atacama’s 3rd region, 645 km north of the capital Santiago, the plant will produce 500 GWh of clean energy per year, equivalent to supplying 240,000 Chilean homes. It will avoid the emission to the atmosphere of around 473,000 metric tons of CO2  from fossil fuel stations.

ACCIONA Energy CEO Rafael Mateo points out that “the start of construction work at El Romero Solar is a milestone for us. It will allow us to meet our commitment to the supply of renewable energy in Chile and strengthen our role in the country’s energy sector. We are very satisfied to supply Chile with quality clean energy from what will be our biggest photovoltaic facility worldwide.”.

We are building the biggest photovoltaic plant in Latin America #Chile https://t.co/0rrODZAfrV pic.twitter.com/CtLYjJGUKh

— ACCIONA (English) (@ACCIONA_EN) enero 13, 2016

ELECTRICITY DESTINED FOR DISTRIBUTORS AND GOOGLE

The production from El Romero Solar is destined to cover demand from electricity distributors in Chile’s Central Interconnected System (SIC) and Google’s operations center in the country. ACCIONA signed a contract to supply 600 GWh of electricity to the SIC every year from 1 January 2018 onwards, some of which will come from El Romero Solar. The plant will also cover electricity demand from Google’s data processing center in Chile.

ACCIONA won the contract to build this facility in an international call for tender attracting bids from the sector’s top companies. The Company will begin supplying electricity to Google in 2017.

Otra parte de la producción de esta planta se destinará a cubrir el consumo eléctrico del centro de procesamiento de datos de Google en Chile. ACCIONA se adjudicó este contrato en un proceso internacional de licitación al que concurrieron las más prestigiosas empresas del sector. La Compañía empezará a suministrar electricidad a Google en 2017.

EL ROMERO SOLAR IN FIGURES

• Maximum capacity: 247 MWp
• Nominal capacity: 196 MW
• Nº of photovoltaic modules: 777,000
• Location: Vallenar (Atacama Region)
• Length of fixed structures: 111 km
• Surface area occupied: 280 hectares
• Solar capture area: 1.5 million square meters
• Estimated annual production: 492 GWh
• Equivalent demand: 240,000 Chilean homes
• CO2 emissions avoided: 473,000 metric tons/year
• Investment: US$ 343 million
• Construction began: October 2015
• Completion date: Mid-2017