SunPower has commissioned the 70 MW PV Salvador project in Atacama Desert of Chile.
This is one of the world’s largest operating merchant solar power plants.
The plant constructed at a cost of around US$200 million will produce approximately 200 GWh of electricity per year, enough to power nearly 70,000 homes in Chile.
Around 70 percent of the total cost was financed by Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), whereas the remaining share was funded by Etrion, Total and Solventus, based on ownership interests of 70 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent respectively.
SunPower was responsible for the designing and construction of the plant.
The company installed its Oasis C1 Power Plant technology featuring proprietary single-axis trackers in addition to 160,000 high-efficiency solar panels.
Henceforth, SunPower will manage the operations and maintenance service.
To an extent, the company succeeded in modifying the maintenance methods according to the climate of the desert region.
SunPower has implemented patented robotic cleaning technology for the panels, which will help in increasing the annual power production by almost 15 percent.
DON’T MISS SunPower partners in 3GW PV deal for China
In addition, this panel cleaning method will use nearly 75 percent less water than traditional process.
PV Salvador will initially operate on a merchant basis where the electricity produced is sold on the spot market and is delivered to the Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC) electricity network.
The facility connects through the power infrastructure of Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco).
In another development, SunPower secured a deal from US and Australia to offer its fully integrated solar power systems to the customers.
In December 2014, SunPower invested $20 million in Tendril, a Colorado-based energy management software firm to license its energy services platform, integrating with solar series data of customers and offering them advanced energy management solutions.
Sabeena Wahid
[email protected]