Provinces of La Rioja and Antofagasta join forces to cooperate on renewable energy

This is an automatic translation of the original release issued in Spanish

PRESS RELEASE from SERC Chile
August 13, 2024

Santiago, August 13, 2024. Starting this August, the province of La Rioja, Argentina, and the region of Antofagasta, Chile, have joined forces to cooperate in renewable energy through the creation of a bilateral project that aims to contribute to energy sector policies, with a focus on strengthening the capacities in distributed generation of non-conventional renewable energy in La Rioja, based on the model implemented in Antofagasta.

The treaty is currently financed by the cooperation agencies of the foreign ministries of both countries, ACSIA-Chile and FOAR-Argentina, in which representatives of the Government of La Rioja, Parque Arauco La Rioja , the Energy Secretariat of La Rioja , the Regional Government of Antofagasta , the Seremi de Energía de Antofagasta and the University of Antofagasta participate.

As the talks and proposed work progress, it is expected to promote the articulation of public and private actors linked to the Non-Conventional Renewable Energy sector between the province of La Rioja and the Antofagasta region; improve the knowledge and technical capabilities of professionals from La Rioja, in the development of comprehensive projects for distributed generation of renewable energies with solar photovoltaic technology; and identify between both territories the real offer of specialized suppliers in non-conventional renewable energies.

Within the framework of the meetings held, academic Diego Pulido, researcher at SERC CHILE (Solar Energy Research Center), who has been in charge of the networking sessions, presented the book 10 years SERC-Chile to the Secretary of Energy of the province of La Rioja, Alfredo Pedrali; to the Director of the Arauco 300 MW Wind-FV Park in the province of La Rioja, Emmanuel Rejal; and to the Governor of La Rioja Ricardo Quintela, with the purpose of promoting studies, teachings and innovation in scientific research in Chile in the face of the energy transition.