juwi and Kaltemp to construct largest solar power plant in Chile

The sunny Región de Coquimbo in northern Chile is becoming an electricity producer. On unused land close to the City of Vicuña, German renewable energy specialist juwi and Chilean engineering company Kaltemp construct Chile’s largest solar power plant. The system has a total capacity of more than 1,200 kilowatts and is going to produce clean solar power by mid-2012.

The solar plant has a size of less than two hectares and consists of about 5,000 polycrystalline modules. It produces enough power to supply a modern irrigation system in a nearby clementine and avocado plantation. In mid-2012 Kaltemp is going to become the owner of Chile’s largest solar power plant. With the solar plant, Kaltemp sets new standards in the South American country.

Chile is an important market for the juwi group. In autumn 2010 juwi Energías Renovables de Chile Limitada opened an office in the Chilean capital Santiago. „Chile has enormous potential for the use of solar energy”, says Diego Lobo-Guerrero Rodríguez, juwi project coordinator for Latin America. Northern Chile belongs to the region with the highest solar radiation in the world. “Besides the intense solar radiation, Chile has also outstanding wind conditions. Furthermore, Chile is politically stable and very open to renewables.”

In the solar sector, juwi has already been involved as a project developer in two research projects in the Atacama desert. Last year, the specialist for renewable energies has successfully installed two solar power plants with a total capacity of six kilowatt each, one in the coastal city of Antofagasta, the other one in the City San Pedro de Atacama. The plants use polycrystalline as well as thin-film modules and were constructed in cooperation with the Centre for the Development of Energy based at the University of Antofagasta.