The Campos del Sol Photovoltaic Power Plant is located in the Atacama Region of Chile. The project has a net installed capacity of 375MW, making it one of the largest of its kind in the country.
Enel Green Power (EGP) Chile, a subsidiary of Enel Chile, was the developer of the project. The company won the project during the 2016 Distribution Companies Tender.
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Construction works for the solar photovoltaic (PV) plant began in August 2019. In February 2023, the power plant commenced operations after receiving official authorisation from the National Electricity Coordinator.
The project will generate approximately 1,200GWh of electricity per year, enough to power around 512,000 Chilean homes.
The solar PV plant will also offset more than 947,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. This is equivalent to taking around 200,000 cars off the road for a year.
The development of Campos del Sol entailed a total investment of around $320m.
Location details of Campos del Sol Plant
The Campos del Sol Plant is located around 60km northeast of Copiapó, Atacama Region in northern Chile.
It includes an area of around 1,700acres.
Campos del Sol Infrastructure
The Campos del Sol PV plant consists of 974,400 crystalline bifacial PV modules equipped with solar tracking systems.
The interconnection includes two main transformers; a 7.5km, 220kV transmission line; and Transelec-owned Carrera Pinto substation.
The solar panels feature bifacial monocrystalline photovoltaic technology that enables capturing solar radiation from both sides of the panel.
This facilitates generation of around 12% more electricity on average compared to conventional modules.
The electricity generated by the Campos del Sol will be evacuated and fed into the National Electric System.
Construction
During the construction of the PV plant, the construction site utilised latest machinery that was guided and controlled by an autonomous drone to monitor activities.
The workers also used tablets to digitally integrate data from various devices in real time to expedite construction process productivity.
After construction commenced, Enel Green Power Chile announced to have entered into permanent dialogue to generate value for five local indigenous Colla communities through the project.
The shared plan sought to develop short, medium and long-term projects aligned with the communities’ priorities as well as to help the company to achieve its sustainable goals and support tourism initiatives.
Contractors involved
In 2021, Andina Freight Chile secured the contract for the construction of the Campos del Sol Photovoltaic Project.
Andina Energy, created under the support of Andina Freight, was responsible for profile driving, mechanical assembly of trackers, assembly of solar panels, panel connection, trench excavation, connection of conversion units grounding tests, laying of medium and low voltage cables and commissioning among others.
TCI also supported the construction of the PV project for Sungrow Power Supply. TCI started its activities in the project in 2020 and was responsible for the assembly and interconnection of 63 conversion units and ancillary systems as well as installation of anti-rodent and smoke detection systems.
STE Energy secured the full EPC contract for step up and interconnection high-voltage substations and high-voltage overhead transmission lines for the Campos del Sol photovoltaic plant.
Ventus team in Chile also worked on the Campos del Sol photovoltaic solar park. The team supported the construction of the project including the assembly of trackers, installation of panels and bifacial technology, civil works, laying of DC, BT and MT cables, connection, and start-up, among others.
Valmont Solar provided around 35,000 Convert-2P Single-Axis Solar Trackers for the project.
Enel Group in Chile
Enel Group operates in Chile through Enel Chile and its subsidiaries. The company’s subsidiaries include Enel Generación Chile and Enel Green Power Chile in the generation sector, Enel Distribución Chile in the distribution vertical, and Enel X Chile in the advanced energy solutions business.
As of 2019, Enel had an installed capacity of around 7,500MW in the country. The company sold around 23.2 TWh of electricity in 2018.
Overall, the group employs more than 2,000 people in Chile.
In July 2019, Enel Generación Chile signed an agreement to supply up to 3TWh of renewable energy per year to mining company AngloAmerican over ten years. The agreement became effective in 2021.
