AES plans another solar-plus-battery energy storage system in Chile

Energy Storage News:

The Chile arm of global energy firm AES Corporation is looking to build another large co-located battery energy storage system (BESS), this time with a capacity of 2,710MWh.

AES Chile filed an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Cristales Photovoltaic Park project with the country’s EIA authority at the start of the month (2 March).

The project in Antofagasta, part of the Atacama desert region, would pair a 379MW solar PV park with a BESS unit of 542MW power and five-hours of discharge duration. That makes the potential total energy storage capacity stand at 2,710MWh or 2.71GWh.

The project would require the construction of a 220kV high-voltage line to take the energy to the Monte Mina substation, where it would then be injected into the National Electric System, the country’s grid.

If approved, construction could start on 10 January, 2024, and the project could be online by the first quarter of 2028 according to AES’ EIA submission. The company is pegging the investment needed at US$710 million.

[Cameron Murray]

More: AES Chile submits another large solar-plus-storage EIA – with 2.7GWh BESS