Chilean president cuts ribbon on 170-MW Sonnedix Atacama solar farm

Sonnedix Power Holdings Ltd on Sunday formally inaugurated its 170-MW solar farm in Chile in the presence of Chilean president Sebastian Pinera, energy minister Juan Carlos Jobet and Tarapaca regional authorities.

The Sonnedix Atacama plant, located in Tarapaca's section of the Atacama Desert, is the company's largest solar PV farm to date, the independent power producer (IPP) said.

Investing over USD 180 million (EUR 151.4m) in the project, Sonnedix put up around 500,000 solar mono panels, installed 48 central inverters and connected the plant to the grid through two substations.

Sonnedix Atacama is expected to generate about 470 GWh per year, or enough to power over 200,000 Chilean homes.

Construction at the site started in June 2019. JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd (NYSE:JKS) supplied the panels, which were mounted on NX Horizon smart trackers from Nextracker Inc, while Spain’s Power Electronics delivered the inverters.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded to METKA EGN. Chile’s Transelec SA built the transmission facilities, which it will manage throughout the life of the Sonnedix Atacama plant.

Last year, Sonnedix signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Chilean copper mining company Compania Minera Dona Ines de Collahuasi SCM covering 150 GWh/year of the new plant’s output.

Since establishing its presence in Chile in 2015, Sonnedix has grown to operate 12 solar PV farms with a combined capacity of 229 MW. Its current portfolio of developing projects in Chile surpasses 700 MW, the IPP added.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.841)

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