Chile’s mining industry hunts for renewable energy

Earlier this week, Chilean business leaders representing a cluster of 15 mining companies from Chile’s north spent three days in the Extremadura region of western Spain. The delegates met with five companies interested in helping Chile harness its solar energy generation, reports the Spanish version of Solar News.

This month a group representing the Government of Vizcaya, the Basque province of Spain, as well as the Spanish company Solarpack Corp. Tecnologica, also spent time visiting Codelco Chuquicamata operations in Chile.  The purpose of the trip to the world’s largest copper producer division was to advance Solarpack’s projects there.

Much of Chile’s mining takes place in the Atacama Desert, one of the sunniest places on earth. But large mines consume a lot of energy, mostly in the form of electricity. In fact, it’s been estimated they eat up as much as 80 per cent of the energy in Chile, a country no stranger to mass power outages.

With Chile’s mining industry thriving, the demand for power is expected to continue to grow at a rate of at least five per cent annually for the next several years, according to a report in Businessweek.

This has created opportunities for power-suppliers to step in and help fill the gaps, especially those offering green energy. According to Businessweek, more than a dozen solar installations are now planned for the Andes over the next few years. These include one from Spain’s Solarpack, expected to begin operations this April at its Calama III solar plant, designed in conjunction with Codelco.

Meanwhile, the Spanish company Nazca Energias Verdes, which also hails from Extremadura, has just opened an office in Arica, in northern Chile. It plans to explore solar-power projects for Chile, Peru and Bolivia.

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With the contribution of Suzanne Soto, owner of Si! Corporate Communications, a Greater Toronto Area company providing public relations services in both English and Spanish.