Czech solar developer Solek has started building a 95.2MW solar plant in San Antonio, Chile – its largest PV project so far.
The Leyda solar power plant is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2024 and has already secured a 15-year power purchase agreement with local utility Enel Chile.
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Funding for Solek’s Chilean portfolio was secured last year through international banks BNP Paribas and Natixis, among others, with US$379 million raised.
Unlike most of the utility-scale solar projects built in Chile, the Leyda solar plant is not located in the desert of Atacama – which comprises the Chilean regions of Atacama and Antofagasta – known for having one of the highest irradiation levels in the world. The project is closer to the capital (90km away), Santiago de Chile, where distributed generation projects – known as Pequeños Medios de Generación Distribuido (PMGD) in Spanish – are more frequent.
“Leyda is our biggest investment to date. I believe that we will continue to build power plants of this scale. It has been ten years since SOLEK entered the Chilean market,” said SOLEK founder and CEO Zdeněk Sobotka.
In Chile, Solek operates nearly 40 solar PV plants with a total capacity of more than 250MW. By the end of 2023, the entire Solek Group had a portfolio of operational or under-construction solar PV projects combining 486MW.