In 2004, primary energy consumption in Chile comprised 39% oil, 19% natural gas, 18% hydroelectricity, 10% coal, 14% wood and other resources. These statistics show Chile’s strong dependence on neighbouring countries to meet the increasing energy demand of its domestic market and sustain economic growth, especially with relevant oil and natural gas imports from Argentina.

In such a situation, the Chilean government was obliged to follow a new course to diminish enormous import costs, adopting a series of measures to reduce the exposure of its energy matrix to fossil fuels, of which it lacks sufficient quantities of its own. However, in spite of its great potential with regard to alternative energy resources such as solar, wind and geothermal power, Chile has until now not invested sufficiently to take full advantage of the opportunities they present.

Considering that 15% of the population (2.250.000 inhabitants) live in rural areas, the government installed about 2.500 solar-powered generators to provide isolated houses, schools and urgent care medical centres with low voltage electricity, within the Programa de Electrificacion Rural (Rural Electrification Program), between 1992 and 2000. 3.400 more families have been provided with solar generators of this kind since 2006.

But according to the Asociación Chilena de Energía Solar (ACESOL , Solar Energy National Association), only 6.000 m2 solar collectors had been installed in the country until 2005, most of which were used to heat water for residential use with a very low part in air heating and electricity generation. On August 22, 2006, new President Michelle Bachelet decided to allocate new founds to finance the renewable resources exploitation programs of the Comisión Nacional de Energía (CNE, National Energy Commission).

In the same year, Chilean government published a market survey in cooperation with the French firm Transenergie to assess the country’s solar energy demand and supply. The report shows that insolation reaches 4.200-4.800 Kcal/m2 per day in regions from I to IV (north), 3.400 Kcal/m2 in regions from V to VIII (centre), 3.000 Kcal/m2 in the rest of the country. That is to say, a 4.000 Km2 surface is suitable for photovoltaic panels and thermal collectors installation.

Map of global horizontal solar radiation

Source: CNE

So far, thermal solar energy has been mainly used in the North of the country, where the radiation level is one of the highest in the world – even higher than the ones detected in Mojave desert (USA) and in Sahara desert –, especially in Arica, Parinacota, San Pedro de Atacama and Coquimbo. More and more national and foreigner enterprises are investing to produce and install solar engines in these regions.

Thanks to the cooperation with GTZ, the National Energy Commission deployed a weather station in San Pedro de Atacama, one of the most arid areas of the world, in April 2010. The purpose is of measuring horizontal solar radiation and providing all data necessary for the six photovoltaic plants the government is going to build in the next years.

The photovoltaic central station Calama 1 will be built 3.5 km far from the city, in the region of Antofagasta, with panels occupying a surface area of around 65 hectares. Its planned capacity is 9 MW with a voltage connection of 23 kv. The energy produced will be gradually re-inserted into the existing electrical network of the Sistema Interconectado del Norte Grande (SING) to be used across the entire area, where numerous mining companies currently operate.

Solar Pack is the Spanish PV specialist that has dealt with the entire planning stage, including the assessment of its social and economic impact with all the municipalities benefiting from the project. It will also develop the plant by employing the same technologies used in the five plants it has already built in its own country, with a 22 MW energy production.

Calama 1 technological system will be based on photons absorbed by a semiconductor, which produce a potential difference and an electricity-generating electrons movement. Its estimated cost is about US$40 billion, with a total cost for all six stations of about $240 billion.

According to Jon Segovia, General Director of Solar Pack in Chile, construction time is expected to be from seven to nine months and Calama 1 is expected to be operational towards the end of 2010. Its construction will require about sixty workers and, once operational, it will require only three employees to carry out routine maintenance operations, with the entire monitoring system controlled remotely in Chile and Spain.