Solar power in Chile

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Solar power in Chile
Installed capacity	11.05 GW (2024) (19th)
Annual generation	19.92 TWh (2024)
Capacity per capita	592 W (2024)
Share of electricity	22.3% (2024)

Solar power in Chile is an increasingly important source of energy. Total installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity in Chile reached 11.05 GW in 2023.^[1] In 2024, Solar energy provided 19.92 TWh of electricity generation in Chile, accounting for 22.3% of total national electricity grid generation, compared to less than 0.1% in 2013. ^[1][2]

In October 2015 Chile's Ministry of Energy announced its "Roadmap to 2050: A Sustainable and Inclusive Strategy", which planned for 19% of the country's electricity to be from solar energy, 23% wind power, and 29% hydroelectric power.^[3]

In November 2024, Chile's solar power generation capacity was projected to quadruple until 2060, in order to help decarbonize Chile's electricity generation. Energy storage will play a key role in taking in excess supply during the day and releasing it during the night. Due to its high solar potential, solar power developments will likely grow most in the north. Solar generation is expected to contribute 46% of Chile's electricity in 2060.^[4]

Northern Chile has the highest solar incidence in the world.^[5]

Source: NREL[6]

Chile Photovoltaics Capacity (MWp)^[7]

End of the year	Installed capacity operating	Under construction	Presented for environmental assessment
2011	0	1	<769
2012	2	2.5	4,109
2013	6.7	128	8,184
2014	362	983	12,559
2015	750	2380	15,769[8]
2023	8500[9]	7729	?

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In June 2014, the 100-megawatt (MW) Amanecer Solar CAP, a photovoltaic power plant located near Copiapó in the Atacama Desert was inaugurated. It was developed by the company with the same name, Amanecer Solar CAP, and was the largest in Latin America at the time. It is capable of generating 270 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity per year.^[10][11]

The 70 MW photovoltaic Salvador Solar Park went online in November 2014, followed by an official inauguration ceremony on 23 January 2015.^[12] It was expected to produce 200 GWh of electricity per year. The plant is located approximately 5 kilometres south of El Salvador, in the Atacama region. It is one of the first in the world to supply competitively priced solar energy to the open market without government subsidy.^[13]

The 60 MW photovoltaic Lalackama I plant went online in 2014 and is expected to produce 160 GWh of electricity per year. The nearby 18 MW Lalackama II plant went online in May 2015 and is capable of generating approximately 50 GWh per year.^[14][15][16] Both plants feature photovoltaic inverters designed and manufactured by Elettronica Santerno,^[17] an Italian company.

The 141 MW photovoltaic Luz Del Norte (Light of the North) plant, located 58 kilometres northeast of the city of Copiapó in the Atacama region, began construction in October 2014 and is scheduled for completion in December 2015.^[18] It uses more than 1.7 million cadmium telluride modules.^[19] The first two blocks of this project (approximately half of the project's total capacity) was connected to Chile's central power grid in October 2015.^[20] The plant supplies ancillary grid services.^[21]

The 79 MW Pampa Norte PV solar plant began operating in April 2016 at a site 32 kilometres southwest of Taltal in Chile's Antofagasta Region. It uses approximately 258,000 polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic modules and is capable of generating more than 200 GWh per year.^[22] The plant was developed by Enel Green Power and features photovoltaic inverters designed and manufactured by Elettronica Santerno.^[17][23]

The 97 MW Carrera Pinto photovoltaic plant is located 60 kilometres from the city of Copiapó in the Atacama Region. The first 20 MW of the plant was connected to the grid in early January 2016, with the remaining 77 MW connected in August 2016. The plant is capable of generating over 260 GWh per year.^[24][25]

The 246 MW El Romero single-axis tracking solar photovoltaic plant began operating in November 2016 at Vallenar in the Atacama region, with a 493 GWh annual average output.^[26][27] It was the largest solar farm in Latin America when it opened. It uses 776,000 polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic modules. The solar irradiance has been measured at 853 W/m2.^[28]

In 2016, SolarPack won an electricity auction by bidding $29.1/MWh;^[29] a record low price.^[30] In March 2020 PV Magazine reported that Solarpack had begun providing power on 2 March 2020, to the Chilean grid from its 123 MW Granja project, 10 months ahead of the contracted date of 1 January 2021. With that, Solarpack raised its total operating capacity in Chile at the time to 181 MW.^[31]

In 2013 the Atacama 1 solar complex was proposed as a 110 MW solar thermal electric plant (the first in Latin America) and a 100 MW photovoltaic plant. The solar thermal plant will include 17.5 hours of thermal storage. These technologies complement each other to supply clean and stable energy 24 hours a day. The complex is located in the commune of María Elena, Segunda Región. Construction of the solar thermal electric plant commenced in 2014 and the plant was scheduled to begin operating in the second quarter of 2017, but got delayed significantly. Construction of the photovoltaic plant commenced in January 2015 and the plant began operating in June 2016 with 160 MW of panels, the largest solar plant in Chile at the time.^[32][33] By the end of 2020 the project was fully erected under the name Cerro Dominador Solar Thermal Plant and is expected to fully operate in 2021.

Because of its good solar resource several international companies have bid record low prices for solar thermal power plants in Chile, including the Copiapó Solar Project bid at $63/MWh by SolarReserve in 2017. If realized this would have been the lowest ever price for a CSP project in the world. Several CSP projects are under development in Chile, but in the absence of technology specific support policies Cerro Dominador is the only one under construction, yet.

Some solar facilities also have batteries connected,^[34] as they can deliver power after sunset when prices are higher.^[35] By August 2025, Chile had 4.6 GWh of battery energy capacity.^[36] During 2024, 5.9 TWh of electricity was curtailed (mainly solar in the north) due to insufficient transmission, an increase from 2.7 TWh in 2023.^[37]

Oasis de Atacama is a multi-site project with up to 2 GW of solar power and 11 GWh of storage. By early 2025, the first phases (Quillagua and Víctor Jara) were being tested,^[38] using Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.^[39]

Largest battery storage power plants by storage capacity

Name	Commissioning date	Energy (MWh)	Power (MW)	Duration (hours)	Type	Solar plant (MW)	Location/coords	Refs
Gabriela (Oasis de Atacama)	2026	1100				272		3 km above sealevel[40][41]
Sol del Desierto	2025	800	200	4	Lithium-ion	244	María Elena 22°12′22″S 69°34′01″W / 22.206°S 69.567°W / -22.206; -69.567	Electric busses[42][43]
Andes Solar IV	2024	650	130	5	Lithium-ion	211	Calama	[44][45]
Andes Solar IIB	2023	560	112	5	Lithium-ion	180	Antofagasta 24°01′S 68°35′W / 24.02°S 68.58°W / -24.02; -68.58	[46][47]
Coya	2024	638	139	4.5		181	María Elena 22°16′S 69°29′W / 22.26°S 69.48°W / -22.26; -69.48	[48]
Tamaya	2025	418	68	6		114	Antofagasta 22°10′S 70°05′W / 22.16°S 70.09°W / -22.16; -70.09	replaces diesel[49]
Capricornio	2025	264	48	5		88	Antofagasta23°25′S 70°11′W / 23.42°S 70.18°W / -23.42; -70.18	[48][50][51]
Salvador	2023	250	50	5		68	Diego de Almagro	[52]
El Manzano	2025	134	67	2		99	Tiltil	[53]

Largest battery power plants under construction

Name	Planned commissioning date	Energy (MWh)	Power (MW)	Duration (hours)	Type	Solar plant (MW)	Location	Refs
Mesembria	2025	1607						[54]
Pampas		1360	340	4		229 MW + 128 MW wind	Antofagasta	[55]
CEME1-Dune	2026	1334	333	4		480	María Elena 22°22′S 69°35′W / 22.37°S 69.59°W / -22.37; -69.59	Codelco[56][57]
Víctor Jara (Oasis de Atacama)	2025	1300			LFP	231	Tarapacá Region	[58]
Quillagua (Oasis de Atacama)	2025	1200	200	6	LFP	221	María Elena 21°40′S 69°30′W / 21.66°S 69.5°W / -21.66; -69.5	[58]
Arena	2026	1100	220	5		0	Antofagasta	[59]
Cristales		1020	340	3		288	Antofagasta	[55]
	2026	1000				220	Tarapacá	[60]
Malgarida	2027	1000	200	5		238	Diego de Almagro26°16′S 69°58′W / 26.27°S 69.96°W / -26.27; -69.96	[61]
Libélula		995	199	5		151	Colina and Tiltil	[62]
Monte Águila	2027	960				340	Cabrero, Chile	$300 million cost[63]
Colbún/Celda	2026	912	228	4			Camarones 18°53′S 70°10′W / 18.88°S 70.16°W / -18.88; -70.16	[54][64]
Diego de Almagro Sur	2027	912+32	228	4	LFP	232	Diego de Almagro	[65][66]
Pampina	2025	700	175	4		186	María Elena 22°23′S 69°35′W / 22.38°S 69.59°W / -22.38; -69.59	Codelco[56]
Tocopilla	2025	660	116	5			22°06′S 70°13′W / 22.1°S 70.21°W / -22.1; -70.21	[67]
Granja	2026	420	105	4		123	Tarapacá 20°48′47″S 69°29′13″W / 20.813°S 69.487°W / -20.813; -69.487	[68]
Huatacondo	2026	312	98	3	LFP	103	Tarapacá 21°08′S 69°28′W / 21.13°S 69.47°W / -21.13; -69.47	[69][50]
	2025	100				31	[[]]

Largest battery storage power plants planned

Name	Planned Commissioning date	Energy (MWh)	Power (MW)	Duration (hours)	Type	Solar plant (MW)	Location/coords	Refs
Antofagasta ERNC/HREP	2027	4950	990	5		1200 solar&wind	Antofagasta	[70]
Llanura		3830				1000 MW + 150 MW wind	Antofagasta	Llullaillaco 500 kV line[71]
Elena (Oasis de Atacama)		3400	446	7	LFP	446	María Elena 22°13′S 69°31′W / 22.21°S 69.52°W / -22.21; -69.52	[72]
Kanut	2027	1900	380	5			La Ligua	[73]
La Isla	2027	1250	250	5	LFP	0	Llay-Llay	[74]
Los Boldos	2027	1236	252	4.5		300	Petorca Province	[54]
Pampino	2029	1000				170	Pozo Almonte	[75]
Huañil	2027	1000	200	5		31	Salamanca, Chile	$188 million[70]
Melipilla	2026	922	120	7			Melipilla	[73]
Nueva Pozo Almonte substation	2026	762	190	4	LFP	0	Pozo Almonte 20°19′S 69°42′W / 20.32°S 69.7°W / -20.32; -69.7	[76]
Cabo Leones	202x	680	170	4		192 wind	Atacama	[70]
Freirina	202x	680	170	4		165 wind	Atacama	[77]
Domeyko		660	300	2		83		[78]
Hemera	2026	541	90	6		94	Río Claro	[73]
Pradera Larga	202x	450	90	5		84	Valparaíso	[70]
Llanos de Rungue - Halcón 9		367	69	4		280	Andacollo	[79]
Polpaico	2026	300					Til Til	[73]
Quinquimo	2026	200	90	2	Lithium-ion	90	Valparaíso32°27′S 71°17′W / 32.45°S 71.28°W / -32.45; -71.28	[42]
	2026	100				31	[[]]	(template)

• Renewable energy in Chile
• List of photovoltaic power stations
• Solar power by country
• Growth of photovoltaics

• Stillings, Jamey; Missana, Sergio (2023). Atacama: renewable energy and mining in the high desert of Chile (First ed.). Göttingen, Germany: Steidl. ISBN 9783958297081.