Spanish renewables developer Zelestra has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with gas provider Abastible for a solar-plus-storage plant in Chile.
Located in the northern region of Tarapacá, the hybrid plant has already started construction and will have 220MW of solar capacity and 1GWh of battery energy storage system (BESS).
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According to Zelestra, the hybridised solution will provide Abastible with night-time power and increase the company’s carbon-free energy portfolio.
This is the second solar-plus-storage PPA signed by Abastible in over a month. In February, the company signed a 15-year PPA with independent power producer (IPP) Verano Energy for an 83MW solar PV and 660MWh BESS project, which is expected to be operational at the end of 2026.
Zelestra is present in several Latin American countries, including Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. In the region, the company has a development pipeline of 7GW comprising 56 projects.
Co-locating solar with BESS in Chile
Chile has seen a surge in co-located BESS and solar PV projects, either operational or in construction, as the country faces an increase in curtailment and transmission issues. Chilean solar PV and wind saw nearly 6TWh of capacity curtailed in 2024, according to trade body the Chilean renewable energy and energy storage association (ACERA).
Because of these ongoing issues and a reduction of revenue for solar PV assets, co-locating BESS capacity with a solar asset has become an “absolute necessity” in Chile, as Alejandro McDonough, managing director at Wärtsilä Chile, told PV Tech Premium last year.
Moreover, Chile, along with Brazil, will be the main drivers for solar PV additions in South America in the coming years, according to a recent report from Wood Mackenzie. Wood Mackenzie forecasts 160GW of new solar PV capacity by 2034 in South America, of which 78% will come from Chile and Brazil.
However, some uncertainties, especially on the financial side, still need to be solved for BESS to soar fully in Chile and the broader region, with many countries lacking regulation and policy for BESS to grow in Latin America and in the Caribbean, as covered by our sister-site Energy-Storage.News.
