Roundup: Energy storage plan for govt land, generator interested in mine stake

Energy storage plan

Chile’s national assets ministry approved a resolution outlining a plan to spur energy storage projects on government land.

The move constitutes a resumption of a process that was launched in December 2023 but put on hold the following month.

The plan contains details on facets such as maximum capacity required in parts of the country’s sundrenched north.

The objective of the plan is to promote the assignation of acreage for the “development, construction and operation of storage systems, of the standalone kind, on government land, designed to be connected to a national electricity system substation, that is located in the zones identified by the national electricity coordinator [CEN] as areas with storage needs from 2026.” 

An associated web portal for applicants is due to be launched on the national assets ministry site by May 13. Contracts are due to be signed by the end of 2025.

The resolution containing the plan, issued on Saturday, voids an earlier one issued in December.

Battery storage is currently the dominant technology in Chile, where the government is aiming to have a portfolio of 2GW of confirmed projects this year, taking into account those built or being built and those with a final investment decision and financing secured.  

Research published by CEN indicates that 2GW of batteries installed by the end of 2026 would provide optimal economic benefits of some US$513mn and help finetune requirements through 2032. 

According to March data from local renewables and storage association Acera, 364MW of battery storage capacity is operating, while 240MW is in the testing phase, 1.05GW is under construction, 2.23GW has an environmental permit and 6.23GW is in the environmental review phase. The bulk of planned battery capacity is linked to solar PV projects (3.24GW), solar PV-wind hybrid installations (1.42GW) and standalone facilities (1.32GW). 

Chile’s 2023 regulated power supply auction contains incentives for incorporating energy storage. The results are due this week.

The new resolution can be downloaded from the Documents box in the top right-hand corner of the screen. 

Central Puerto

Argentina’s biggest power generator, Central Puerto, is interested in investing in Canadian miner McEwen Copper’s Azules copper project, Bloomberg reported.

In the exploration phase, Azules is high in the Andes mountains in San Juan province.

If a transaction does go ahead, it would be the second of its kind for Central Puerto, which had previously said the mining sector was on its investment radar.

Last month, Central Puerto entered into a subscription agreement to acquire Cdn$10mn (US$7.3mn) in shares of Toronto-listed miner AbraSilver Resource via a private placement. AbraSilver, meanwhile, said it would use the funds for the exploration and development of its flagship Diablillos silver-gold project in Salta province, among other purposes.

Demand exists in Argentina’s copper and lithium sectors, where deposits are usually in isolated zones, for supply of clean power, particularly grid-connected. 

Argentina’s biggest renewables generator, Genneia, has devised proposed solutions and outlined associated regulatory hurdles.