Chile inaugurates first thermosolar plant in Latin America

Chile inaugurated, this week, the first solar thermal plant in Latin America, in the Atacama Desert. The complex was nicknamed Cerro Dominador and will be an important tool to help the country achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, as provided for in the Paris Agreement. 

The space was built in an area of more than 700 hectares, where around 10,600 mirrors were installed around a 250 meter high tower, where there is a receiver in which the sun's rays are reflected.

The absorbed heat will be used to generate electricity – up to 110 MW – via a steam turbine. Combined with an adjacent photovoltaic plant, the complex will be capable of producing up to 210 MW of renewable energy.

An interesting feature of the project is the fact that energy storage can be carried out for up to 17 hours, which allows the system to continue operating without direct sunlight without stopping.

With the inauguration of the space, the Chilean Government's expectation is to prevent more than 600 thousand tons of CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere every year. The volume is equivalent to the pollution emitted by 300,000 cars in a single year.

Construction of the Cerro Dominador project began in 2014 and the Chilean government's idea is to continue investing in clean energy projects throughout the country, such as initiatives aimed at preserving forests and electrifying public transport, replacing carbon-based energy. for green alternatives.