TL;DRContourGlobal has inaugurated a $500 million solar-and-storage plant in Chile’s Atacama desert that delivers 200 megawatts of power for up to 6.5 hours at night. Chile has 3,072 MW of battery storage operating and expects an additional 5,400 MW by December 2026.
ContourGlobal, the independent power producer backed by KKR, has inaugurated a nearly $500 million solar-and-storage facility in Chile’s Atacama desert that stores daytime solar energy and delivers it after sundown. The Victor Jara hybrid plant combines 231 megawatt-peak of photovoltaic capacity with 1.3 gigawatt-hours of battery storage, capable of delivering 200 megawatts of power for up to 6.5 hours at night. ContourGlobal calls it Latin America’s longest-duration utility-scale battery system.
The project sits in the Tarapacá region and is backed by a 15-year nighttime power purchase agreement with Copec EMOAC, the energy marketing and renewable power supply arm of Empresas Copec, one of Chile’s largest industrial conglomerates. It is ContourGlobal’s second solar-and-storage investment in Chile, following the launch of a similar system in Quillagua in the neighbouring Antofagasta region last year. Together, the two projects deliver 452 megawatt-peak of solar and 2.5 gigawatt-hours of battery storage.
