Antonio Cammisecra, CEO of ContourGlobal and the Undersecretary of Energy, Luis Felipe Ramos, accompanied by the President of the National Electrical Coordinator, Juan Carlos Olmedo, along with local authorities and representatives from the electricity sector, celebrated this week the commissioning of the Quillagua plant, located in Maria Elena municipality, in the Antofagasta region.
Quillagua is a 221 MWp photovoltaic solar plant with a 1.2 GWh battery storage system, capable of delivering 200 MW for 6.2 hours after sunset, making it the largest solar plant coupled with battery storage system in Latin America.
This milestone marks the final stage before commencing commercial operation in the coming weeks and starting to fulfill its long-term clean power purchase agreement (PPA), ensuring the supply of solar energy at night and dispatching any surplus to the commercial market.
“We are proud to begin operations at Quillagua months ahead of schedule, bringing the sun’s energy at night, and to share this moment with our partners, the community, and local institutions and authorities”, stated Antonio Cammisecra, Global CEO of ContourGlobal.
Regarding the integration of long-duration batteries, Cammisecra emphasized that “this is key to stabilizing the grid, addressing excess daytime supply and peak demand challenges. We are deeply committed to this country, and, beyond storage, we are also exploring opportunities in wind power, diversifying our technological approach to meet the dynamic energy needs of Chile.”
Quillagua is part of a larger development that includes another similar facility in the Tarapacá region. This is the Victor Jara plant, with 231 MWp of photovoltaic solar energy and 1.3 GWh of battery storage, which will be ready in the second half of the year, several months ahead of the initial plan.
Both projects, with a total capacity of 452 MWp solar and 2.5 GWh of battery storage, were acquired from Grenergy at the end of last year by ContourGlobal, marking the entry of the U.S. KKR-backed company into Chile. Once fully operational, this portfolio will generate about 1,300 GWh annually, positioning ContourGlobal as a key renewable operator in Chile, a country where the company intends to grow and invest.
This inauguration strengthens Chile’s role as a pioneer in harnessing the solar potential of its regions and the Atacama Desert to develop energy storage battery systems (BESS) for long-duration energy storage projects. It represents a milestone in the energy transition of Chile and Latin America, in line with the rapid global expansion of battery storage, which, according to the IEA (International Energy Agency), reached 70 GW in 2024. Additionally, the combination of photovoltaic solar energy with storage is already surpassing other forms of generation in competitiveness, solidifying itself as the future technology for more flexible and lower-cost energy supply.
The construction of this ambitious solar project has created 313 direct jobs, involving workers from six nationalities, and 176 indirect jobs. It also included the installation of more than 452,000 solar panels, 5,000 solar trackers, 267 battery storage modules, 44 transformation centers, and 90 inverters, ensuring the creation of nearly 20 permanent jobs for its ongoing operation.
During the inauguration event, Luis Felipe Ramos, Chile’s Undersecretary of Energy, reaffirmed the country’s energy transition goals, emphasizing the contribution of Quillagua project to reaching the national target of 2 GW of storage capacity by 2030 and 6 GW by 2050.
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