Solar project developer SunPower Corp., a subsidiary of French energy giant Total, has completed the 70-megawatt solar PV Salvador project in Chile.
The plant is expected to produce approximately 200 gigawatt-hours of solar electricity per year, enough to supply electricity to approximately 70,000 households in Chile.
SunPower designed and constructed PV Salvador. It will now provide on-going operations and maintenance. In the desert environment, cleaning the panels using SunPower’s robotic cleaning patented technology may help increase annual power production by as much as 15% while using up to 75% less water than conventional panel cleaning methods.
PV Salvador will initially operate on a merchant basis where the electricity produced is sold on the spot market and is delivered to the Sistema Interconectado Central electricity network.
The Overseas Private Investment Corp, the U.S. government’s development finance institution, financed 70% of the approximately US$200 million project cost through long-term non-recourse project debt. The remaining portion was funded by Etrion, Total and Solventus.
Total holds a majority stake in SunPower.