Power group Engie has put an 142MW/802MWh BESS project in Chile into operation, while IPP Grenergy has secured financing for the fifth and final stage of its Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage project.
Engie Chile begins commercial operations at 142MW/802MWh BESS Lile
France-headquartered Engie has started commercial operations at its 142MW/802MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) Lile project in Chile.
The standalone project was built in a former thermal power plant in the northern region of Antofagasta and represented a US$174 million investment. 160 battery containers were installed for the BESS Lile project.
Commercialisation of the BESS Lile project marks the fifth such project Engie Chile has put in operation in the Latin American country this year for a combined output of 803MW.
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Last month the company started commercial operations at the BESS Libélula and Los Loros projects located 40 kilometres north of Santiago, Chile’s capital. Combined, the projects have a capacity of 251MW/1309MWh.
Other operational BESS projects from Engie in Chile include the 48MW/264MWh BESS Capricornio in June 2025, the 68MW/418MWh BESS Tamaya in October 2024, and the 139MW/638MWh BESS Coya in March 2024.
Grenergy secures financing for 446MW solar-plus-storage portfolio in Chile
Spain-headquartered IPP Grenergy has secured a US$457 million non-recourse senior financing for a 446MW Chilean solar-plus-storage portfolio.
The financing covers the fifth phase of the company’s flagship solar-plus-storage project, the Oasis de Atacama. Dubbed the Algarrobal, the fifth phase comprises 242MW of solar PV and 1,480MWh of BESS.
The financing also covers the entirely separate Palmas cluster of projects, which comprises 204MW solar PV and 289MWh BESS.
The Algarrobal is backed by a 12-year hybrid power purchase agreement that is set to begin in 2028. The previous four phases of the Oasis de Atacama are already operational, with the latest phase being energised at the beginning of the year. Once all phases of the Oasis de Atacama are operational, the project will combine 2GW of solar PV with 11GWh of BESS in the northern region of Antofagasta.
On the other hand, the Palmas cluster comprises 21 distributed generation (also known as PMGD) solar projects located across northern and central Chile. All the PV projects are operational, with six of them being retrofitted with five-hour BESS.
Our publisher Solar Media, part of Informa Connect, will host the fifth edition of Energy Storage Summit Latin America 2026 on 26-27 October, 2026, in Santiago, Chile. Use our discount code ESN20 for 20% off tickets.
