Spanish independent power producer (IPP) Grenergy has secured a 1.25GWh energy storage supply agreement with CATL for its Oasis de Atacama project in Chile.
The capacity will be for the Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage project in Chile, which is the ‘world’s largest energy storage’ project with a total 11GWh of battery capacity and 2GW of solar PV.
The project has seen its capacity increase – from the original 4.1GWh of storage and 1GW of solar – last month when the Spanish IPP acquired 1GW of solar PV capacity and 1GW of energised line from gas and oil giant Repsol and renewables developer Ibereólica.
“The expansion of Oasis de Atacama, the world’s largest battery project, aligns with Grenergy’s commitment to meeting the region’s energy demands while promoting renewable energy integration at scale,” says a spokesperson for Grenergy. The spokesperson added that the 1GW interconnection line that is built and energized will “facilitate the connection process of the projects under development”.
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Oasis de Atacama is a project being built in seven phases, as told by a spokesperson from Grenergy to Energy-storage.news. BESS capacity for the first four phases have already been secured by the IPP, with the first three covered by a 3GWh supply agreement with BYD, which was extended in September. CATL’s supply agreement will cover the entirety of phase four.
For the fourth phase of the project, CATL will provide over 220 of its EnerX model containers, which will contain more than 7,100 modules. It also allows the storage of more capacity in less space, while using LFP (lithium iron phosphate) technology.
“The collaboration with CATL is a fundamental milestone to consolidate Oasis de Atacama. We are excited to have signed this first contract and to be working with the world’s leading battery manufacturers on a project that will make industry history,” said David Ruiz de Andrés, Executive Chairman of Grenergy.
Phases one to four to be operational by 2026
Moreover, the Spanish IPP told Energy-storage.news that the timeline for the first four phase is as follows: “The first phase of the Oasis de Atacama project is expected to be operational by the end of 2024, phases two and three will be connected by 2025.” By 2026, the first four phases of the projects are expected to be fully operational, said the Grenergy spokesperson.
The Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage project was unveiled last year by the company and will require an overall investment of US$2.3 billion. Financing for the first two phases have already been secured with a US$354 million ‘green loan’ with complementary credit lines from financial entities BNP Paribas, Natixis, Société Générale, The Bank of Nova Scotia and SMBC.
The news comes a few weeks after our publisher Solar Media’s Energy Storage Summit Latin America 2024 in Santiago, Chile, with the country a major focus of the two-day event.
Chile is currently a hotbed of grid-scale energy storage activity, with huge levels of solar curtailment, massive energy price volatility and regulatory reforms helping to drive the need for more storage. See all recent coverage of the country here.
