María Elena Solar Power Plant (Spanish: ''Planta Termosolar María Elena'') is a
concentrated solar power
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated whe ...
plant with a
molten-salt technology system that is currently under construction in the
commune of
María Elena in the
Antofagasta Region
The Antofagasta Region (, ) is one of Chile's Administrative divisions of Chile, sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, El ...
of Chilé.
The María Elena complex will be made up of four separate 100 MW plants, for a total capacity of 400 MW, and will supply the northern SING (Sistema Interconectado del Norte Gande) grid via a 17.5 km, 220 kV double circuit transmission line connected to the Encuentro substation.
The $3.6 billion thermo solar plant will be the largest plant of its kind in the world.
The project is being developed by
Ibereólica Solar Atacama, a subsidiary of
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
-based
Grupo Ibereólica.
It will employ 1,500 workers during the construction stage and 200 as permanent staff when in operation.
Construction will take 27 months so the plant will be operational in July 2016 at the earliest.
Ingresa a evaluación ambiental mayor planta termosolar del mundo
www.estrategia.cl December 12, 2012 retrieved September 2, 2013
See also
* Solar power in Chile
Solar power in Chile is an increasingly important source of energy. Total installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity in Chile reached 11.05 GW in 2023. In 2024, Solar energy provided 19.92 TWh of electricity generation in Chile, accounting for 22.3% ...
* Energy in Chile
Chile's total primary energy supply (TPES) was 36.10 Mtoe in 2014. Energy in Chile is dominated by fossil fuels, with coal, oil and gas accounting for 73.4% of the total primary energy. Biofuels and waste account for another 20.5% of primary ene ...
* List of solar thermal power stations
This is a list of the largest facilities generating electricity through the use of solar thermal power, specifically concentrated solar power.
Operational
Under construction
Announced
Cancelled
Decommissioned
* Eurelios ...
* Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...
References
External links
*
Municipality of María Elena
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Elena Solar Power Plant
Communes of Chile
Populated places in Tocopilla Province