CSP World

Abengoa has filed an Environmental Impact Statement with the Chilean Environmental Assessment Service to build a a 110 MW Concentrated Solar Power plant in the South American country.

The project, named “Planta Solar Cerro Dominador” was filed last Friday, December 6, and is expected to be evaluated by March 4, 2014. Abengoa estimates the construction could begin by June 2015 and be commissioned by June 2018

Abengoa plans to build a 110 MW tower type CSP plant with energy storage system, alongside a 100 MW PV plant with a total cost of $1.3 billion on a 1400 ha site.

The solar park will be located in the Atacama desert, between Maria Elena and Sierra Gorda, in Northern Chile. This area is very energy intensive due to the mining activities.

The CSP plant will comprise 10,600 heliostats surrounding a central tower in a rounded solar field. Each helisotat will have a reflective surface of 140 m2.

Abengoa plans to use molten salt as heat transfer fluid for the first time in a commercial CSP plant. So far, the Spanish company has been running a demonstration facility in its Solucar Platform, in Spain, to test the technology.

According the the EIS, the energy storage system will be designed to allow the plant to generate electricity in a 24/7 basis.

The project description shows an average of 700 workers will be needed with a peak of 2000.