by Shane Henson — February 11, 2013—SunEdison has been selected to oversee the construction of what it says will be the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in Latin America, and one of the largest in the world.
SunEdison was contracted by the Chilean mining and steel group CAP for the project. CAP’s plant is designed to have an installed capacity of 100 megawatts (DC) and will be located in the Atacama Desert of Chile. It is estimated that the plant will produce as much as 15 percent of the mining group’s energy needs, says SunEdison, a global provider of solar energy services.
According to SunEdison, the plant will be built using SunEdison technology. More than 300,000 Silvantis monocrystalline silicon modules will be installed, which are made from nontoxic, nonpolluting material that can be recycled at the end of its useful life, together with solar trackers designed by SunEdison, for which steel produced by CAP is expected to be used.
Once completed, the project will be managed by the SunEdison Renewable Operations Center (ROC). The ROC provides around-the-clock monitoring and management services to a global portfolio of photovoltaic installations, including those owned and operated by SunEdison and third parties, the company says.
During the first year of operations, the plant is expected to generate 270 gigawatt hours of clean energy, avoiding the emission of more than 135,000 tons of CO2 each year into the atmosphere, which is the equivalent of withdrawing over 30,000 automobiles from circulation, notes SunEdison.
