- The long-term supply contract signed by the two companies will start in April 2018
- ACCIONA Energía will build a new photovoltaic project in Chile to guarantee all the supplies agreed with its client
- ENAMI is the first Chilean mining company to have all its electricity supplies guaranteed by clean energy sources. This will also represent a major reduction in its energy costs
The National Mining Company of Chile (ENAMI) has awarded ACCIONA Energía its electricity supplies from renewable energy sources starting in April 2018, under a long-term deal. The PPA contract will cover 100% of the electricity consumption of ENAMI’s plants, for which ACCIONA will build a new photovoltaic plant in the north of the country.
Power will be supplied to the plants that ENAMI operates in the regions of Antofagasta, Atacama and Coquimbo, and the agreement also covers the consumption related to the modernization of the Fundición Hernán Videla Lira foundry located in the town of Paipote, starting in 2022.
The energy purchase and sale contract was signed yesterday in the El Romero Solar photovoltaic plant - owned by ACCIONA – by representatives of the two companies in the presence of authorities from the Region of Atacama. Among those present were the Mayor Alexandra Nuñez and the regional Ministerial Secretaries (Seremis) of Mining and Energy.
In 2022, when all ENAMI’s plants will be supplied by ACCIONA, the 100% renewable energy will avoid the emission of more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere equivalent to emissions from thermal power plants, based on the country’s energy mix.
“Helping the National Mining Company of Chile to achieve 100% renewable consumption gives us great satisfaction, due to the importance of the client, the sector it operates in, and because it strengthens our position in the corporate PPA market in the country”, says ACCIONA Energía CEO for South America Ignacio Escobar. “The agreement also enables us to increase our photovoltaic capacity in Chile, which represents a major milestone in our development activity”, he adds.
Jaime Pérez de Arce, Executive Vice-president of ENAMI, states that “this contract is part of the modernization that we are driving forward in ENAMI. This is very important for us, as it demonstrates our commitment to the sustainable development of the Company and the country”. He adds that “the new emission-control technology that we will incorporate in the foundry at Paipote, plus the fact that all our plants are supplied with clean energies, places us among the companies with highest environmental standards in the sector”.
ACCIONA has two renewable facilities currently in operation in Chile: the 246-MWp photovoltaic plant in the Atacama Desert and the 45-MW Punta Palmeras wind farm in the region of Coquimbo. It is now building a second wind farm - San Gabriel, with a capacity of 183 MW- in Araucanía.
The agreement with ENAMI took place following the award of a public tender in which 14 power generation companies took part. The energy to be supplied by ACCIONA will come from new photovoltaic facilities that the company will build in Chile. The assigned plant (or plants) will be selected from the portfolio of photovoltaic projects that ACCIONA has in the northern zone, giving priority to those located in the region of Atacama.
Photo caption: From left to right, ENAMI Executive Vice-president Jaime Pérez de Arce and ACCIONA Energía CEO for South America José Ignacio Escobar, after signing the PPA contract in El Romero Solar photovoltaic plant.