The wind farm, which is claimed to be the largest project in South America, is located about 400km north of Santiago on the Chilean coast.
Skanska Chile constructed the project, which features 50 2.3MW Siemens turbines that generate enough power for about 200,000 homes in Chile per year.
Pattern Energy will operate the wind farm and retains a 31.5% stake in the project, which links to the Sistema Interconectado Central’s 220kV transmission system.
Other joint venture partners of the project include AEI El Arrayán Chile and Antofagasta Minerals with stakes of 38.5% and 30% respectively.
Antofagasta Minerals has agreed to buy about 70% of the wind farm’s output under a long-term fixed-for-floating hedge.
Pattern Energy CEO Mike Garland said the completion of the El Arrayán wind firm will enable the company to expand its wind power projects portfolio with stable long-term cash flows in attractive markets.
"We were drawn to Chile for its robust and stable economy, its electricity pricing in U.S. dollars and its aggressive policy to expand renewables given their limited domestic energy resources," Garland added.
"We have delivered El Arrayán on time, increasing our total operations to eight operating wind facilities with three more projects totaling 393 MW in construction, all of which are on track to be completed this year."
Pattern Energy owns and operates eleven wind power projects in the US, Canada and Chile with a total capacity of 1,434MW.
Image: Pattern Energy to operate the El Arrayán wind farm and retains a 31.5% stake in the project. Photo: Courtesy of 2nix/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
