María Elena Solar Plant

The “María Elena Photovoltaic Park” is a 72 MW power plant, which generates clean energy, and injects it into the National Electric System, which allows it to supply the growing demand for this resource, especially by the mining industry, collaborating in providing greater support system security.

FACTS

Location

Antofagasta, Chile

Technology

Solar

Attributes

Environmental Impact, Local Impact

Producing electricity since

May 2015

Developer/owner

WEG Fund Administrator

Total capacity

72 MW

The project is located northeast of the María Elena commune, Antofagasta Region. This area is located in the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world, with excellent solar radiation, which makes it a privileged place worldwide for this type of projects. The plant belongs to the WEG Fund Administrator, dedicated to managing alternative assets, and, in particular, to the WEG-4 Renewable Energy fund. Its partners have more than 30 years of experience in the electrical sector in Chile.

Some that have been taken to mitigate emissions to the environment correspond to the stabilization of the access road, wetting of internal roads, and maximum speed of traffic measures. During the construction phase of the project, archaeologists inspected the land and trained workers on the procedure if there were archaeological finds. However, no archaeological materials were found.