Chile developer seeks green light for US$200mn solar storage project

A US$200mn solar PV-battery storage project was filed for environmental review in Chile.

The project – Corinto Solar – is proposed by a company of the same name and is linked to local environmental consultancy SGA.

Engineers plan two constituent solar installations, one of 73MW and the other 158MW, and each with a battery storage system.

Work, which also includes a 30km transmission line, is penciled in to start in August 2025.

Corinto Solar representatives have already held a meeting with Atacama region environment ministry official Natalia Penroz to present the project, according to the government's lobbying transparency platform. 

The bulk of utility-scale renewable energy projects entering the environmental review system in Chile today contain storage components, reflecting measures to mitigate congestion risk and tap favorable non-solar-hour injection prices.

ALSO READ: How much energy storage does Chile need – and where?

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E-fuels pioneer HIF Global plans to install a direct air capture (DAC) system to obtain carbon dioxide at its Haru Oni demonstration plant next year.

The Magallanes region facility – which launched in 2022 – currently uses carbon dioxide of biogenic origin, along with green hydrogen, to produce up to 130,000l/y synthetic gasoline.

The DAC system would filter 600t of carbon dioxide a year, directly from the air, a statement said.

Founded in Chile and today with a presence and projects in various countries, HIF is working with German partners Porsche, Volkswagen Group Innovation and MAN Energy Solutions 

HIF CEO César Norton said in a statement: “We have proven that carbon-neutral eFuels can be a real solution for decarbonizing the transport sector. In pioneering direct-air-capture technology, that enables efficient and low-cost CO2 capture, we are taking things a step further.”

Associated expansion projects are the 325MW, US$500mn Faro del Sur wind park, which is expected to be resubmitted for environmental review after being pulled from the system last year, and the 66Ml/y e-fuel capacity plant HIF Cabo Negro, both in Magallanes. In parallel, HIF has joined forces with Chile's national oil company Enap, along with other hydrogen players, to adapt existing midstream infrastructure in Magallanes.

“To slow global warming, it is essential to reduce emissions and remove CO2 from the atmosphere,” said Porsche research board member Michael Steiner. “At the same time, we need CO2 as a raw material in many production processes. Why not combine the two? We’re working on that. We want to put an industrial direct air capture, or DAC, procedure into series production.” 

In Latin America, HIF also has a project in Uruguay which would recycle carbon dioxide from biomass. The 256Ml/y project is linked to a bioethanol and animal feed plant owned by Alur, a unit of Uruguayan state hydrocarbons and cement company Ancap.  

HIF has also signed a DAC agreement with US oil and gas services and technology firm Baker Hughes.