Markets

PV Additions Chile June 2016

Chile’s PV capacity additions in June 2016 were less than half than in the prior month. Since Q1/2016, South America's largest PV market has added 165 MW.

Anu Bhambhani
  • Chile added 50 MW of PV capacity in June 2016, compared to 104 MW added in May 2016
  • Solar PV operational capacity is the highest among renewables at 1,267 MW
  • 670 GWh of clean power generated in the reported period, representing 10.8% of total generation

Chile has added 50 MW PV capacity in the month of June 2016, less than half of what it added in May. In the latest report, Chile's Center for Innovation and Development of Sustainable Energy (CIFES) points out that installed capacity for PV remains the highest among renewables in the tiny nation.

Renewable energy represented 10.82% of total power generation with 670 GWh generated last month. The capacity of clean energy generated by power producers under the renewable energy obligation doubled from 268 GWh to 474 GWh, out of which 121 GWh came from solar PV.

There is at least 1,676 MW of PV capacity that is under construction in Chile, while over 12 GW passed environmental checks at the end of H1/2016.

Out of the total operational capacity of renewables of 3,119 MW, the share of solar PV was over one third – at 1,267 MW at the end of June 2016. Since Q1/2016, the country has added 165 MW of solar PV (see Chile Q1 Solar PV Capacity). The total number of PV projects under construction in the reported month were 1,676 MW, as compared to 1,897 MW in the previous month. Projects under evaluation amounted to 5,434 MW, and 12,038 MW have received environmental qualification resolution (RCA) status.

According to the latest data, Chile had 47 renewable energy projects under construction at the end of June that are expected to become operational between July 2016 to August 2018.