Chilean solar producer Cerro Dominador has received approval from the environmental authorities to scrap plans for a 110 MW concentrated solar power plant (CSP) and build a 500 MW one at a site in Chile's Antofagasta region Photovoltaic power plant.

Back in late 2014, the company submitted an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to Antofagasta authorities for a permit to install a 110 MW CSP power plant in the commune of Sierra Gorda, The power plant has a storage time of 15 hours and installs a 100 MW photovoltaic power plant as part of the Planta Solar Atacama 2 project. At the time, the investment in the project was estimated at $1.2 billion (€1.11 billion).

In 2015, the EIS for Planta Solar Atacama 2 was deemed favorable. Since then, Cerro Dominador has revised the project and submitted an updated EIS in March 2021. In the new proposal, the CSP portion of the project was eliminated and replaced by 500 MW of PV, while the original plan for the 100 MW PV plant remained unchanged.

Investment costs for the current 600-megawatt project are expected to reach $360 million, according to the new Environmental Impact Statement. The entire project has also been renamed, and Cerro Dominador now wants it to be called Plant Solar Pampa Union instead of Atacama 2. The updated Environmental Impact Statement was approved last week. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

The company is best known as the owner and operator of the 210 MW Cerro Dominador photovoltaic and CSP power plant in Antofagasta. Last year, Cerro Dominador received an environmental permit to increase the size of its Likana CSP project in Chile from 450 MW to 690 MW.Editor/XingWentao