Roundup: Solar thermal, hybridization, electricity data and more

Solar thermal

Chile has established a working group focused on ways to better leverage solar power for domestic water heating.

Formed by fuels and electricity watchdog SEC and the energy and housing ministries, the group will work on strategy. An associated objective is producing a technical guide for the sector.

Chile has abundant solar energy resources, especially northern zones. Solar industry stakeholders advocate greater leveraging of renewables at the distributed generation level to substitute gas and grid power. 

“Our country has the fortune to have much potential in terms of solar energy and, clearly, we should take better advantage of it,” SEC chief Marta Cabeza said in a release.

Employing such technology, which uses solar energy to heat water, could result in reductions of up to 70% in expenditure on natural gas, leading to potential annual savings for families of 300,000-500,000 pesos (US$317-528), SEC said in the statement. 

Distributed generation, along with solar-powered heating and cooling, are spheres where room exists to further leverage the power of the sun and, in turn, spur electrification of the economy, Chilean solar power association Acesol’s annual conference, Proyecta Solar, was told earlier this year.

Enel Chile

Enel Chile brought online 205MW solar PV park Las Salinas, which was built on land at the site of 112MW operational wind park Sierra Gorda Este.

The Antofagasta region complex is the biggest of its kind in the country and leverages available acreage and existing interconnection infrastructure, Enel said in a statement, adding the project was in line with a strategy of renewables project hybridization. 

The wind and solar plants, which will operate in tandem, have capacity to generate annually up to 910GWh. 

Argentine energy data

Argentina is establishing a new electric power production and consumption data-collection system.

The statistics will be used to produce energy reports, according to a federal energy department resolution. These, in turn, will be used for policymaking and planning, it states.

Officials at a new state division, the subdepartment of energy transition and planning, will produce them.

Market agents will be required to provide monthly information such as power generated and sold, generation plant energy consumption, number of consumers and amount of power sold.

The government is working on an electric power market overhaul.

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Grupo Albanesi unit absorption 

Argentine electric power generator and gas trader Grupo Albanesi is working on a reorganization of its subsidiaries, a regulatory filing states.

The board has greenlit the move, which involves generator Generación Mediterránea absorbing fellow producer Albanesi Energía.

Regulatory and other authorizations are required for the transaction to be completed. Benefits include greater operational efficiency, the filing states.

Grupo Albanesi’s other main subsidiary is natural gas trading unit R. G. Albanesi.

By year-end, Albanesi’s overall installed capacity is expected to climb 454MW to reach the 1.9GW mark.

Statkraft

Norwegian generator Statkraft, in a results statement, reaffirmed plans to divest Enerfín portfolio assets in Canada, the US, Colombia, Australia and Chile. 

Earlier this year Statkraft completed the US$1.8bn purchase of Enerfin, adding 1.5GW of wind and solar parks in operation or under construction.