At about 10:30 yesterday morning (Chile time) the first stone was laid at Huatacondo, the Photovoltaic Plant (103 MW) located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Three companies have become partners to implement this project. The Eiffage Group along with the Japanese groups Sojitz and Shikoku Electric Power will be responsible for implementing the operation of Huatacondo.
The installation ceremony was attended by various personalities such as José Miguel Villablanca, chief of the division of National Assets, Claudia Rojas Campos, Regional Intendant of Tarapaca, and Jimena Quilodrán Jara, State Secretary for Energy. In addition to Javier García Cruzado, General Manager of Eiffage Energía Chile, Toshifumi Murata, Vice President for the Americas from Sojitz Corporation and Kazuichi Ikeda, Senior Manager of Shikoku Electrical Power Co. Inc.
The photovoltaic power plant will have nearly 300 thousand solar panels and its installations will occupy about 350 hectares. Located at kilometre 1,697.4 of route 5, in the commune of Pozo Almonte, it is one of largest solar plants in the region.
For 30 years, the works and maintenance of the plant will be performed by Eiffage Energía Chile, thanks to its extensive experience in implementing and managing large projects in the areas of energy, civil engineering and construction work.
The importance of this activity, which will be part of the “Energy 2050” project in Chile lies in producing 70% of electricity from renewable energies by that year. Huatacondo photovoltaic plant joins other projects that Eiffage Energía Chile is developing in the market of solar energy production in the country.