AES Andes commits USD 3 billion to new large-scale solar and energy storage projects in Chile

Latin American utility AES Andes SA said on Friday that it has submitted three new solar photovoltaic projects for environmental evaluation in Chile over the past six weeks, seeking permits that, if received, could unleash a total investment of USD 3 billion (EUR 2.71bn).

While AES Andes calls the trio solar projects, battery energy storage systems (BESS) are a major component of all three proposals, seeing that the Chile-based AES Corp subsidiary wants to double down on energy storage additions.

The announcement comes after the utility entered the latest solar-plus storage scheme, called Solar Oriente, to the environmental permitting queue. According to its environmental impact statement (EIS), Solar Oriente is designed to be a large-scale power complex featuring a 581.5-MWp solar photovoltaic plant and a BESS of up to 809.2-MW. This mega-development, planned for the Atacama Desert commune of Pozo Almonte in the region of Tarapaca, will represent an investment of USD 990 million.

Weeks earlier, AES Andes submitted into permitting the EIS for the Llanos del Sol project, also located in Pozo Almonte, and the Altos del Sol project set in the Antofagasta region.

Llanos del Sol promises 381.8 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity and a BESS of 531.5 MW. The utility anticipates an investment of USD 635 million in this project.

Down to the south in Antofagasta, the Altos del Sol project will create a 763.6-MW solar farm and a 1,063-MW BESS for an investment of USD 1.375 billion, according to the EIS filing.

Combined, the three projects will add over 1,700 MW of solar capacity and more than 2,400 MW of battery storage to Chile's grid.