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The Llanos de Marañón project in Chile’s Atacama region combines 458 MWp of solar with a four-hour battery system.

Chile’s Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) has approved the Llanos de Marañón photovoltaic park, a hybrid solar and storage project being developed by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) in the Atacama region.

The environmental approval clears the way for construction and operation of the project, which will be located across municipalities in the wider Atacama Region in northern Chile.

The project combines a solar plant with 432 MW of nominal capacity and 458 MWp installed capacity, alongside a battery energy storage system (BESS) rated at 150 MW with four hours of storage for 600 MWh capacity. The BESS is intended to provide additional flexibility to Chile’s National Electric System (SEN).

According to the project description, the solar plant will include 819,801 bifacial monocrystalline PV modules rated at 555 W, mounted on single-axis trackers, across a total surface area of 825.7 hectares.

Power will be evacuated through a 25.4 km, 220 kV transmission line connecting the project to the Nueva Maitencillo substation. FRV had previously said the project would also include 192 battery storage blocks, 2,160 inverters rated at 200 kW, and 72 transformation centres rated at 6 MVA.

The development will also include a 33/220 kV step-up substation, switching facilities, internal roads, a control room, warehouse, construction facilities, storage areas, and underground low- and medium-voltage networks.

During construction, the project is expected to employ up to 550 workers, with an average workforce of 350. The estimated operating life of the plant is 38 years.

FRV said Llanos de Marañón is designed to inject renewable generation into the National Electric System while improving operational flexibility through co-located battery storage, using shared grid infrastructure for both solar generation and storage.