Mainstream energises 571 MW of wind, solar farms in Chile

Irish clean energy company Mainstream Renewable Power has energised the wind turbines and a solar farm that make up its 571-MW Condor portfolio in Chile, the company’s Chilean unit said in a series of tweets on Thursday.

The milestone encompasses three wind farms -- the 157-MW Tchamma, the 185-MW Cerro Tigre and the 84-MW Alena, -- and the 145-MW Rio Escondido solar farm. The Condor plants are now close to generating enough electricity to power over 680,000 households, the Chilean energy ministry said in a separate post.

The Condor portfolio is part of Mainstream’s three-phase 1.3-GW Andes Renovables platform, a string of fully contracted wind and solar power projects dispersed across several regions of Chile. The second phase, Huemul, will bring 630 MW across three wind and two solar farms. The final Copihue phase will round out the platform with a single 148.5-MW wind farm.

All Andes Renovables plants will benefit from tariffs that were awarded to Mainstream in Chile’s power auction in 2016, expect for one portion.

The Caman wind project in the Copihue portfolio, originally of 100 MW, was given extra 48.5 MW thanks to a private power purchase agreement (PPA), as Mainstream announced recently.

Andes Renovables is expected to be fully up and running by 2022.

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