With Michelle Bachelet, President of the Republic of Chile; Isabel Allende, President of the Chilean Senate, and Máximo Pacheco, Minister of Energy in attendance, First Solar ceremonially installed the first solar panel for the 141MW AC Luz del Norte Solar Power Plant.
The project, located 58 kilometers north of the city of Copiapó, is expected to be complete by December 2015, and will become the largest solar plant in Latin America.
"We are working hard to address Chile's energy deficit. Projects, such as this, show that Chile is progressing towards being a clean energy producing country,” said Bachelet, speaking to a group gathered at the construction site. “This year alone, we are incorporating more than 1000 MW of new energy to our system through different non-conventional renewable energies. This is an important step towards our 2025 target of having 20% of our energy coming from non-conventional renewable energies."
Maximo Pacheco, Minister of Energy, added, "Northern Chile is one of the places with the highest solar radiation in the world, and therefore is the place to develop alternative renewable energy projects such as First Solar's here in the Atacama region. We are confident what with the implementation of this technology, we will achieve the goal set in our Energy Agenda."