- The Atacama wind farm, located in the Chilean province of Huasco, has 165.3 MW of installed capacity and its construction and commissioning were completed in less than a year.
- It will produce about 450 GWh per year, equivalent to the consumption of more than 150,000 Chilean households and will prevent 320,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
- João Paulo Costeira, Repsol's General Manager of Low Carbon Generation: "This milestone will allow us to meet our growth and diversification goals in Chile, a country that offers us great potential for asset development as a further step towards achieving our goal of 6 GW in operation by 2025."
- Gregorio Álvarez, President of Grupo Ibereólica Renovables: "With the commissioning of the Atacama wind farm, we reinforce our joint commitment with Repsol to the decarbonization of Chile's energy system, with 358 MW of wind energy built and already in operation in the country.”
According to the company’s website press release on February 13, 2023, Repsol Ibereólica Renovables Chile, a company 50% owned by Repsol and the Ibereólica Renovables Group, have completed a new milestone with the start of electricity production at the Atacama wind farm, the second wind project jointly developed by the two companies, with an installed capacity of 165.3 MW.
Following its first wind farm, Cabo Leones III, with 192.5 MW, Atacama is located in the Chilean region of the same name, in the commune of Freirina, in the province of Huasco. The project consists of 29 Nordex N163 wind turbines of 5.7 MW, which have already begun to feed their first megawatt hours of 100% renewable energy into the grid. The construction and commissioning of this facility was completed in less than twelve months.
The Atacama wind farm will produce more than 450 GWh of clean energy per year, equivalent to the average annual consumption of 150,000 homes, and will prevent more than 320,000 tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere per year.
Prior to the start of construction, both companies signed a 14-year power purchase agreement (PPA), guaranteeing a double-digit return on this renewable generation asset.
João Paulo Costeira, Repsol's General Manager of Low Carbon Generation, said: "This milestone will allow us to meet our growth and diversification goals in Chile, a country that offers us great potential for asset development as a further step towards achieving our goal of 6 GW in operation by 2025."
Gregorio Álvarez, founder and president of Grupo Ibereólica Renovables, said: "With the commissioning of the Atacama wind farm we reinforce our joint commitment with Repsol to the decarbonization of Chile's energy system, with 358 MW of wind power built and already in operation in the country.
The Atacama wind farm is part of the project portfolio in Chile of the joint venture between Repsol and the Ibereólica Renovables Group, which has more than 1,200 MW of assets in operation, construction or advanced development, with a commercial operation date up to 2025 and with the possibility of exceeding 2,600 MW in 2030.
Repsol maintains its roadmap to achieve its decarbonization goals and become a zero net emissions company by 2050, with a current portfolio of installed renewable generation projects amounting to more than 1,800 MW. Apart from its activity in Chile, the company has 1,600 MW of installed renewable capacity in Spain, 62.5 MW in the United States and 3 MW from the WindFloat Atlantic floating wind farm (Portugal). Repsol's goal for installed renewable generation capacity is to reach 6 GW by 2025 and 20 GW by 2030.
Ibereólica Renovables is an independent Spanish business group, a leader in the renewable energy sector with more than 26 years of experience in the development, construction and operation of power generation projects from renewable sources. With the addition of the Atacama wind farm to its portfolio of operating projects, Grupo Ibereólica Renovables reaches 1 GW of installed capacity, taking into account the operating projects that the Spanish company has between Spain and Chile.
Grupo Ibereólica Renovables currently has 985 MW in operation, of which 778 MW are in Chile and 207 MW in Spain, and 270 MW solar under construction in Chile, and has a global platform of more than 12 GW in wind and solar development, as well as in new renewable hydrogen generation technologies in Spain, Chile, Peru and Brazil. The Group has a solid and extensive experience in each of the phases of development, engineering, construction and operation of generation projects with wind, solar and hydraulic technologies. To date, the Ibereólica Renovables Group has invested more than $1.6 B in the development and construction of renewable energy generation projects.
