In a new\u00a0Bloomberg report, Chile Has So Much Solar Energy It\u2019s Giving It Away for Free, solar capacity from\u00a0the country\u2019s central grid has increased\u00a0four fold to\u00a0770 megawatts since 2013. Another\u00a01.4 gigawatts will be added this year\u00a0with many solar power projects under development.<\/p>\n
Thanks to an\u00a0economic\u00a0boost from\u00a0increased mining production, Chile now\u00a0has\u00a029 solar farms and\u00a0another 15 in the pipeline. Enel Green Power Chile Ltda. recently commissioned Chile\u2019s largest solar PV project connected to the grid. The 160-megawatt facility will be located in the northern part of the country in the municipality of Mar\u00eda Elena, about\u00a01,300 kilometers north of Santiago.<\/p>\n
With so much clean power available, the price of solar has cost\u00a0absolutely nothing for certain\u00a0regions in recent months. As Bloomberg\u00a0stated:<\/p>\n
Spot prices reached zero in parts of the country on 113 days through April, a number that\u2019s on track to beat last year\u2019s total of 192 days, according to Chile\u2019s central grid operator.<\/p>\n
However, the article points out that Chile\u2019s\u00a0rapid solar expansion isn\u2019t all good news. Due to the nation\u2019s bifurcated power grid, the central and northern grids are not connected.<\/p>\n
PV Insider\u00a0noted that most of the demand is in the central grid, yet the best solar resource in the country resides in the Atacama desert in the north.\u00a0The\u00a0northern grid represents approximately 24 percent of installed capacity whereas the central grid holds\u00a0the majority of capacity at 74 percent of installed megawatts.<\/p>\n
The northern grid is where solar prices are going to zero, Bloomberg noted. Meanwhile, the main population centers in the south are not seeing the same benefits.<\/p>\n
Chile, therefore, must invest in\u00a0its\u00a0transmission infrastructure in order for the whole country to\u00a0tap into the north\u2019s glut solar power and stabilize demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cChile has at least seven or eight points in the transmission lines that are collapsed and blocked, and we have an enormous challenge to bypass the choke points,\u201d Energy Minister Maximo Pacheco told the publication. \u201cWhen you embark on a path of growth and development like the one we\u2019ve had, you obviously can see issues arising.\u201d<\/p>\n
The good news is that the Chilean government is\u00a0addressing the problem with its planned 1,865-mile transmission line that will link the two\u00a0grids\u00a0by 2017.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: Ecowatch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a new\u00a0Bloomberg report, Chile Has So Much Solar Energy It\u2019s Giving It Away for Free, solar capacity from\u00a0the country\u2019s central grid has increased\u00a0four fold to\u00a0770 megawatts since 2013. Another\u00a01.4 gigawatts will be added this year\u00a0with many solar power projects under development. Thanks to an\u00a0economic\u00a0boost from\u00a0increased mining production, Chile now\u00a0has\u00a029 solar farms and\u00a0another 15 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":219809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n