Cerro Dominador, a Chilean company owned by EIG Global Energy Partners investment funds, has achieved funding worth 758 million dollars that will enable it to complete the construction of its Solar Concentrated Power (CSP) plant in the desert of Atacama It is Latin America´s first photovoltaic solar thermal power plant, with a total installed capacity of 210 megawatts (MW) with 110 MW solar thermal + 100MW photovoltaic. The project commissioning will be carried out by a consortium of international solar technology companies and when completed it will supply clean and sustainable energy to Chile’s interconnected national system.
The financing has been subscribed by a large group of leading international financial institutions, among which are Natixis, Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, ABN Amro, Santander Commerzbank and BTG Pactual, as well as other institutional investors in a parallel tranche to the banking financing. Cerro Dominador hopes that other participants will join the banking group in a few weeks.
The project will create some 1,000 jobs in the next two years
Fernando González, CEO of Cerro Dominador, expressed his satisfaction with the agreement reached: “This is another significant milestone in our plan to build Latin America´s first CSP project. Chile is one of the best locations to harness solar energy and this technology is ideally placed to bring solutions to the country by providing clean and reliable energy operating 24 hours a day. We are fulfilling the commitments made and we are satisfied to contribute to Chile’s energy agenda “. In addition, the project will create some 1,000 jobs in the next two years.
The plant will sell most of its production under 15-year purchase agreements awarded at the end of 2014. It is part of the Energy Agenda of Chile, which has sought to diversify the country’s energy mix through the increase in the use of renewable energy.
Cerro Dominador´s project develops in one of the areas with the highest solar radiation level in the world, on land granted by the State of Chile as a way to contribute to the development of Renewable Energy, in the vicinity of Calama, specifically in María Elena , in the Chilean region of Antofagasta.
The fund manager EIG Global Energy Partners took over and supervised the management of the Cerro Dominador project at the end of 2016. With the first part of 62 MW of photovoltaic power starting commercial operation in October 2017 the project reached 100 MW in February 2018.
Four types of solar thermal plants
Four types of technologies are currently being used in concentrating solar power plants (CSP): parabolic trough, Stirling dish, fresnel and solar tower power plants.
“During the last decade, the development of these technologies and their progressive reduction of costs has allowed to increase their generation capacity and has positioned them as a source with great potential for progress”.
