Spanish renewables developer Grupo Ibereolica Renovables has successfully finalised the environmental permitting process for its 1,203-MW wind and solar hybrid power project in Chile, securing approval to build the facilities in the region of Antofagasta.
The project, dubbed ERNC Antofagasta, will see the company invest around USD 874 million (EUR 816.1m) to build a 528-MW wind farm and a 675-MW solar photovoltaic park in the commune of Taltal, northern Chile, according to the environmental impact study (EIS), which was approved by the regional permitting authorities last week.
Ibereolica Renovables will aim to install 80 turbines of 6.6 MW each for the wind farm portion of the project. The solar farm will be equipped with over 1.3 million modules of 540 Wp each, giving the plant a peak capacity of 766.71 MWp.
The ERNC Antofagasta hybrid project was initially designed to feature a total of 1,171 MW between its wind and solar components. Since first filing the EIS in early 2021, Ibereolica Renovables made changes to the layout and proposed higher-capacity equipment for the generation plants.
According to the original EIS, the company wanted to use 80 wind turbines of 6.2-MW per unit and over 1.4 million solar panels of 530 Wp each.
Later during permitting, Ibereolica Renovables introduced addenda to the EIS, stating that it was possible to raise the maximum unit capacity of the turbines thanks to a software update enabled by the manufacturer Siemens Gamesa. The make and model of the machines would remain unchanged.
(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.93)
