ACCIONA Energía has projected a new facility the Malgarida photovoltaic complex (238MWp) at the Atacama Desert, Chile. With this, the company’s renewable power capacity in Chile sits at 922MW, with seven functioning installations.
As projected, the two plants (The Malgarida I & Malgarida II) will produce 654GWh of clean electricity yearly. This is similar to 280,000 Chilean home’s energy demands. Further, this will help in avoiding the emission of 512,000 tons of Carbon dioxide every year.
These new facilities comprise 580,000 photovoltaic modules installed over 535 hectares area and arranged on horizontal tracking formation in the Atacama Desert (a region with one of the highest radiation levels across the world). The linked investment accounts for US$170 million (€144 million).
The growth of ACCIONA Energías in Chile is a notable case of the development and execution capacity of the group’s project. In the last 2 and half years, the company has tripled its operating assets in Chile.
ACCIONA Energía’s director (South America), José Ignacio Escobar said, “We have made a great effort, both in construction and management, to move forward with the portfolio of projects contemplated in our development plan. In 2020, we put into operation the Tolpán Sur wind farm (84MW) and the Usya photovoltaic plant (64MWp) and began construction of Malgarida, which is already injecting energy into the national electricity system, reinforcing ACCIONA Energía’s leading position as the main exclusive operator of renewable energies in Chile.”
ACCIONA Energía in collaboration with local authorities, academic institutions, and social representatives articulated an ingenious circular economy project in Diego de Almagro (where the compound is situated) all around the construction phase of Malgarida.
This initiative focuses to recycle around 25,000 wooden pallets used for transporting the photovoltaic modules installed in the complex.
Also, in cooperation with the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Chile, ACCIONA Energía started a Technical Training Program in Circular Economy, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship. This has given social organizations the equipment, knowledge, and skills relevant for the manufacturing of furniture from pallets, which includes tables, vertical gardens, shelves, or facilities for hydroponic cultivation, with others.
The training program aims in reducing waste generation by contributing to social and economic development.
ACCIONA Energía’s operating portfolio involves three wind farms – San Gabriel (183MW), Tolpán Sur (84MW) and Punta Palmeras (45MW), and five PV plants -El Romero (246MWp), the Malgarida complex (238MWp), Usya (64MWp), and Almeyda (62MWp) merging to sum total installed capacity of 922MW.
In the past year, the company has raised its portfolio of business clients, with state-owned ECONSSA, Falabella, Movistar Chile, Winpack, Nueva Atacama, Google, Empresa Nacional de Minería de Chile (ENAMI), LATAM Airlines Group, K+S, and Garcés Fruit (the agricultural company).
