Chile update: More than 5GW approved but operating solar projects stagnant at 6.7MW

Chile’s pipeline of approved but unbuilt PV projects reached over 5.33GW at the end of December, according to the country’s renewable energy research centre CER.

According to CER’s January 2014 figures, 128MW of projects were under construction in December – up only 2MW since October.

But only 6.7MW of solar projects were in operation at that time, a figure unchanged since October 2013. In December, just 0.4% (1.2 GWh) of Chile’s grid energy came from solar plants.

Throughout 2013, 1.112GW of non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) generation, from a variety of renewable sources other than solar, was added to the grid, or 6.31% of all grid distributed energy.

A previous report by CER said that solar now accounts for over half of Chile’s renewable energy pipeline.

Read SunEdison's South America general manager, Carlos Barrera, discussing some of the challenges of developing PV in Chile in Solar Business Focus.