Chile's first pumped-storage hydro project gets green light

Chilean startup Valhalla Energía secured environmental approval for the first of two projects that will together allow the firm to produce renewable energy 24 hours a day.

Authorities approved the environmental impact study for the 300MW Espejo de Tarapacá pumped-storage hydroelectric project planned to be built 100km south of Iquique city, Tarapacá region (I).

The first of its kind in Chile, the US$400mn project involves the pumping of seawater into a natural reservoir that sits 590m above sea level.

The second project, which is still pending approval, is the 600MW Cielos de Tarapacá solar photovoltaic farm.

Once both projects are complete and in operation, they will be able to jointly supply a 24-hour energy contract equivalent to what a 200MW thermoelectric plant could provide, and at a similar cost, Valhalla co-founder Juan Andrés Camus told BNamericas earlier this year.

Construction on Espejo de Tarapacá will begin in the second half of 2016, Valhalla said in a statement, with commercial startup slated for 2020.

Both projects will feed into the northern SING grid.

SOLAR CAPITAL OF THE PLANET

In related news, energy minister Máximo Pacheco said that through regional integration with neighbors Argentina and Peru, northern Chile's world-class solar resources could turn the country into "the solar capital of the planet."

The comments were made at the unveiling of a book titled Energy Without Borders about the economic potential of exporting energy to Argentina.

The ministry in June gave permission to power generator AES Gener to begin transferring electricity to and from Argentina via a 345kV transmission line linking the SING with Argentina's national SADI grid.