Major solar-plus-storage duo in Chile bags fresh funding

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Valhalla's development of 561MW PV and 300MW of energy storage in Chile's Atacama should reach commercial operation in 2025 (Credit: Flickr / Alessandro Caproni)

Financing is being lined up for Chile to deliver a colossal solar-plus-storage installation in the Atacama desert, paving the way for construction to start next year.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) agreed this week to allocate US$60 million in fresh funding to the Espejo de Tarapacá project, slated for construction at a site near the Pacific coast.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The scheme, the work of Chilean renewable developer Valhalla, is designed to deliver a 561MW solar PV plant alongside a 300MW pumped hydro storage system.

The overall project is set to cost US$1.094 billion, split into equity (41%) and debt (59%). At US$543 million, the storage unit will take up half of the funding, while the PV plant will require US$425 million.

Work to develop Espejo de Tarapacá got underway in 2011, and has since cleared the engineering, design, permitting and community engagement phases.

The project sponsors expect it to hit financial close in 2020, followed by the start of construction in the same year. Commercial operation is slated to come in 2025.

The 1,500GWh-a-year scheme will be mostly owned by private sector investors (81% of all equity), but the GCF (13%) and Valhalla (8%) will retain smaller shareholdings.  

According to project documents, Tarapacá’s first backers were a group of Chilean individuals who believed that bulk energy storage is key for the country to become fully renewable.

The scheme – which represents 35 million tonnes in CO2 savings – comes to fill a support gap for Chilean energy storage, according to its promoters.

According to them, current regulations claim to be technologically neutral but are indirectly promoting less-clean sources, by failing to recognise the environmental and social benefits of renewables and storage.

See here for more information on the latest GCF round and here for further background on Espejo de Tarapacá

Read Next

June 30, 2025
Voting on the US tax reconciliation bill is expected to begin in the Senate today, following a draft published on Friday that hit clean energy tax credits hard.
June 30, 2025
Australian module manufacturer Tindo Solar has secured a 30MW solar module supply agreement to power Australia's first "net zero pipeline”.
June 27, 2025
Renewables investment platform Nexwell Power has signed a round of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with “one of the largest” US tech companies for solar PV capacity to be built in Spain.
June 26, 2025
A group of minority shareholders in Norwegian silicon firm REC Silicon has triggered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the closure of the company’s US polysilicon production site.
June 26, 2025
Nextracker will supply solar tracker systems to a 550MW solar PV project in the Greek province of Western Macedonia, owned by Greek renewables developer PPC Renewables.
June 26, 2025
PV solar cell manufacturer Halocell Energy has launched its first perovskite-based product called the Halocell Ambient Modules.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece