ENEL Green Power's PV Plant In Chile Starts Producing Energy
Enel Green Power ("EGP") has completed and connected to the grid the first 20 MW of its 97 MW Carrera Pinto photovoltaic plant, located in the Chilean region of Atacama.
The solar plant is owned by Parque Solar Carrera Pinto S.A., a subsidiary of Enel Green Power Chile Ltda. The remaining 77 MW of the photovoltaic facility are expected to be completed and enter into service by the second half of 2016. Once fully operational, Carrera Pinto will be able to generate over 260 GWh each year "“ equivalent to the annual power consumption needs of around 122,000 Chilean households "“ while avoiding the emissions of more than 127,000 tonnes of CO2.
EGP is investing approximately 180 million US dollars in the construction of Carrera Pinto, as part of the investments foreseen in the company's current business plan. The project is financed through the Enel Green Power Group's own resources and is supported by a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).
The energy generated by the Carrera Pinto solar plant, which is located 60 kilometres from the city of Copiapó, will be delivered to Chile's Central Region Transmission Network (Sistema Interconectado Central, SIC).
EGP currently operates a portfolio of plants in Chile that have a combined installed capacity of around 600 MW, of which 340 MW comes from wind power, 174 MW from PV solar and 92 MW from hydropower. In addition, Enel Green Power currently has close to 600 MW of projects in execution which, when completed, will bring the company's total installed capacity in Chile to about 1,200 MW. Among these projects, EGP is building Cerro Pabellòn, South America's first geothermal plant that has a gross installed capacity of 48 MW, in partnership with ENAP.
