First Solar Advances 162 MW of Unsubsidized Solar in Chile

[jpak]

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/First-Solar-Advances-162-MW-of-Unsubsidized-Solar-in-Chile

First Solar's strategy of expanding into new, sustainable solar markets looks like it's paying off.

The thin-film solar panel manufacturer and project developer has applied for permits for the $370 million, 162-megawatt Luz del Norte project, according to a filing with Chile’s environmental licensing department. The project will use more than 1.7 million panels, with construction slated to start in June 2014.

This project is a result of First Solar's acquisition, earlier this year, of Solar Chile, a five-person Santiago-based solar developer. The developer had a 1.5-gigawatt early-stage pipeline of PV power projects in northern Chile, including the Atacama Desert area, a region with some of the highest solar irradiance in the world.

Andrew Krulewitz, Solar Analyst at GTM Research, gave us the lowdown: "Solar Chile was born out of the public-private Fundacion Chile, an alliance between the Chilean government and some mining companies, including BHP Billiton, which signed a PPA for a 1-megawatt project with juwi. Solar Chile announced an early-stage project pipeline of 1.5 gigawatts, though only the 30.2-megawatt La Tirana project had received environmental permitting as of January 2013." Krulewitz added, "Capital costs for the La Tirana project are $2.50 per watt (DC) according to project documents filed with Chilean authorities."

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