In the heart of the Atacama Desert, the commune of María Elena is now home to Latin America’s most powerful solar power plant with a storage system . Quillagua, a 221 MWp photovoltaic plant that incorporates 1.2 GWh of batteries, enough to maintain 200 MW of energy for more than six hours after sunset.
This development is part of ContourGlobal’s strategy, a company backed by KKR, to consolidate its position as one of the most important players in the country’s clean energy market .
A solar plant with batteries to stabilize the grid
The integration of long-life batteries allows solar energy use to extend beyond the daytime and also helps alleviate daytime congestion and respond to peak electricity demand . Antonio Cammisecra, the firm’s global CEO, emphasized that this technology ” contributes to a more stable and efficient grid .”
This project is not alone. ContourGlobal is also advancing the Víctor Jara plant in the Tarapacá region, with a capacity of 231 MWp and 1.3 GWh of storage. Both facilities will have a total of 452 MWp and 2.5 GWh , creating one of the largest complexes on the continent under the brand name Oasis de Atacama.
Local impact and global projection
The construction of Quillagua generated more than 300 direct jobs and another 176 indirect jobs, including technicians of six nationalities. The site has 452,000 solar panels and nearly 270 battery modules , ensuring continuous operation through a permanent team.
Thanks to its power purchase agreement (PPA), Quillagua will soon begin dispatching solar electricity during the night to committed customers while injecting surpluses into the regulated market.
Chile thus consolidates its role as a benchmark in energy storage and transition technologies in Latin America.
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Source and photo: ContourGlobal
