La Huayca II

completed

The project involves the expansion of the existing 1.4 MW La Huayca I project developed by Selray Energias Ltda. (a joint venture between German developer Saferay GmbH and local electrical engineering company Seltec Ingenieria Ltda.), to a total capacity of 30 MW. The La Huayca II project comprises the installation of 122,682 fixed tilt solar panels on approximately 50 hectares of land owned by Seltec Ingenieria Ltda. The plant design consists of two plots with a total area of approximately 51.41 ha. The plots are separated from each other by a public road. One of the plots has a larger surface area with a total of 41.28 ha and the smaller one has a surface of 10.13 ha. The larger plot hosts the existing 1.4 MW pilot plant.The project is located in the Atacama Desert, considered one of the driest and sunniest places in the world, approximately 6 km west of the village of La Huayca and approximately 41 km east of the coastal city of Iquique in Chile’s Atacama Region. The landscape in the region is typical of deserts and arid areas. However, in the project site there are few scarce trees of which two species out of the three found are listed as vulnerable. The nearest population settlements are La Huayca and Pica, an indigenous community, at 12 km from the project site.The solar panels to be installed will convert sunlight to DC (Direct Current) electricity. The DC power will be sent to an Inverter to convert the DC power into AC (Alternate Current) power which will then be fed into the utility power grid system. As part of the project, the Company will install an 18 km (66 kV) transmission line to transport the generated electricity to the Tamarugal main grid substation. The final routing of the transmission line is yet to be decided between two alternatives considered.