Located in the Antofagasta region – which has one of the highest irradiation levels in the world – the Estepa project will be a hybrid system with an installed solar capacity of 215MW and two battery energy storage systems (BESS) with a 418MW output and 4-hour duration.
Commercial operation of the solar-plus-storage project is expected at the end of 2026. Two long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) have been secured for the Estepa project with state-owned mining company Codelco and Chilean utility Colbun.
This is not the first time Codelco and Atlas Renewable Energy have signed a PPA for a solar-plus-storage project in Chile, following the two companies’ signing of a 15-year 375GWh 24/7 supply agreement in March 2024. At the time, this marked the developer’s entrance into the BESS market, according to its CEO.
More and more solar PV projects are co-located or hybridised with BESS in Chile as solar PV as standalone projects have become financially unviable in the country. One of the challenges Chile faces is the ever-increasing curtailment of solar PV and wind. In 2024, the country registered a record of nearly 6TWh of solar and wind power curtailed, more than doubling the capacity curtailed in 2023.
Along with Brazil, Chile is likely to remain one of the key drivers in South America for the growth of solar PV in the coming years. A report from analyst company Wood Mackenzie forecast 160GW of new solar PV capacity additions by 2034, with Brazil and Chile accounting for 78% of all PV installations in the region in the coming years.
However, these two markets are expected to slow down the rate of solar PV installations due to ongoing challenges of curtailment and lagging transmission infrastructure, according to the Wood Mackenzie report.
Alfredo Solar, regional manager for Chile and the Southern Cone at Atlas Renewable Energy, said: “Not only is this our largest financing in history, but it’s for a large-scale hybrid project. The agreements we’ve reached with the country’s key players reflect our competitiveness in developing complex, large-scale projects.”
Atlas Renewable Energy has also recently secured a PPA with Colbun for a 230MW/920MWh standalone BESS project in Antofagasta.
