Schwager gains ground on NCRE development in Chile

Chilean group Schwager continues to advance its strategic plan announced in 2010 with development of several non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) projects in the country. HYDRO The firm is in the final engineering stages of the 5.4MW Cóndor run-of-the-river hydro and associated transmission line in southern region XI. Land negotiations for the plant and transmission line will take place once the engineering is complete. During the due diligence process of the 376mn-peso (US$764,003) acquisition of the project in 2012, Schwager reached agreements with land owners and last month submitted an EIA. Schwager expects studies for small scale hydros Los Pinos and Espuela in region X to be complete by July. The projects were originally designed to have a combined capacity of 6MW and produce 20GWh/year. Initial basic engineering of Los Pinos has been complete and the firm expects to determine the possibility of expanding capacity by 2.8MW in the coming months. Schwager has contacted the director of the national forestry service Conaf to ensure a positive evaluation of Espuela, which is adjacent to a Conaf forest reserve. SOLAR The company through subsidiary Central Solar Desierto I has requested surface and mining rights for 2,400ha in the north for four solar projects. Schwager has signed an MOU with FCC Power Generation for connectivity/transmission, technological, topographical and environmental studies. Last week the firm submitted an EIA for its 20MW Chaka PV project on the central SIC grid, however, it has yet to submit its Kunza project on the northern SING grid for environmental approval, according to BNamericas research.