Global leader in renewable energy and infrastructure ACCIONA has been awarded the contract to supply 100% of The National Mining Company of Chile’s electricity consumption with renewable energy and will start building a new solar PV plant for that purpose.
ACCIONA signed the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with The National Mining Company of Chile (ENAMI) this week at the former’s already operational 246 megawatt (MW) El Romero Solar photovoltaic plant. Under the long-term deal, ACCIONA will supply 100% of ENAMI’s plants with renewable electricity by 2022, for which it will also build a new solar PV plant in the north of the country.
ACCIONA already has two operational renewable energy projects in Chile, the 246 MW solar PV plant in the Atacama Desert and the 45 MW Punta Palmeras wind farm in the region of Coquimbo, and is also currently building the San Gabriel 183 MW wind farm in Araucanía.
Upon completion of work and the full operation of the PPA, the transition to renewable energy will avoid more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
“Helping the National Mining Company of Chile to achieve 100% renewable consumption gives us great satisfaction, due to the importance of the client, the sector it operates in, and because it strengthens our position in the corporate PPA market in the country,” said Ignacio Escobar, ACCIONA Energía’s CEO for South America. “The agreement also enables us to increase our photovoltaic capacity in Chile, which represents a major milestone in our development activity.”
“This contract is part of the modernization that we are driving forward in ENAMI,” added Jaime Pérez de Arce, Executive Vice-president of ENAMI. “This is very important for us, as it demonstrates our commitment to the sustainable development of the Company and the country,” adding that “the new emission-control technology that we will incorporate in the foundry at Paipote, plus the fact that all our plants are supplied with clean energies, places us among the companies with highest environmental standards in the sector.”
Source: cleantechnica.com
