Mainstream Renewable Power has signed a US$1.4 billion joint venture with the private equity company, Actis, to develop 600MW of renewable projects in Chile.The joint venture will purchase projects from Mainstream’s Chilean pipeline, which the developer will continue to manage. The venture will be split 60-40, with Mainstream taking the bigger share. The Mainstream-Actis collaboration in not the first. In 2012 the companies joined forces to win three South African tenders worth 238MW.Speaking about the deal, Mainstream chief executive Eddie O’Connor said:“This is the ideal platform for Mainstream to accelerate the delivery of our 3,500 megawatts of projects in Chile at a significant scale. This platform is about meeting the needs of large-scale industrial consumers in Chile who need top-quality projects and competitive electricity prices. The market is looking for independent power producers with strong financial backing, expert local knowledge and experience in delivering operational assets. This joint venture very much ticks all of these boxes.”
Chile added only 17MW to its installed capacity in 2012, taking it to a total of 205MW. It also held two tenders to lease public land for renewables. It is taking advantage of the mining sector’s need to reduce emissions and the number of projects under construction has grown.
The environmental regulator in Chile has approved the final stages of energy company E-CL’s plans to develop a 310 MW wind farm – a three-park project that is expected to cost US$ 685 million. The three wind parks are planned near the northern town of Calama. The regulator approved the first park, which will have an installed capacity of 108 MW, in January last year, while the second, 108 MW park was approved in January this year.
The third and final 75 MW park will cost US$ 165 million to build and work is ready to commence.. A 28.5 km transmission line is also planned to connect the wind farm to the grid.
There is also a large wind farm development at Talinay in the Coquimbo province of Chile; a project entirely developed by Vestas. It is a mix of V90 and V100 turbines with an installed capacity of 90 MW. It was connected to the grid in March of this year.
