The Andes regional arm of utility and independent power producer (IPP) AES has started commercial operations on a project in Chile pairing 211MW of solar with a 130MW/650MWh BESS.
The Andes Solar Park IV’s 5-hour duration lithium-based 130MW battery energy storage system (BESS) is the largest operational BESS in Latin America, according to AES Andes.
This project in Antofagasta is part of the company’s solar hub in the region, which boasts 667MW of solar PV with 259MW of batteries, said Javier Dib, CEO of AES Andes. In Antofagasta, the company commissioned a 180MW solar-plus-storage project last year.
“Our investment plan includes having more than 1,600MW of operational batteries by 2027 in Chile. This is a concrete demonstration of AES Andes’ commitment to continue investing in the country, innovating, and contributing responsibly to the energy transition,” added Dib.
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Last month, the utility entered into environmental processing for three new projects, which combine 1.7GW of solar PV and 2.4GW of BESS.
A picture provided along with AES Andes’ press release appears to show that the BESS units were provided by Fluence, the BESS integrator company which AES founded along with electronics firm Siemens, in which the pair together hold a controlling stake.
See the original version of this article on our sister site PV Tech.
