World’s largest energy storage system is being built in Atacama Desert

Spanish green energy producer Grenergy has begun the construction of an energy storage facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The Oasis de Atacama project, at 4.1 GWh, will be the largest in the world, the company said.

Grenergy Renovables designs, develops and implements large-scale renewable energy facilities. The Spanish company recently held its first Capital Markets Day, where it presented its development plan.

It said it would invest EUR 2.6 billion by 2026, of which EUR 1.5 billion for photovoltaics and EUR 800 million for battery energy storage.

Grenergy revealed that it targets 5 GW in solar power capacity and 4.2 GWh in energy storage by 2026.

Chile is Grenergy’s main energy storage development hub

The company said Chile is key for its expansion in the storage sector. In the north of the country, Grenergy began construction in a project known as Oasis de Atacama, the largest in the world, with a capacity of 4.1 GWh, and a solar power plant of 1 GW. It valued the investment at USD 1.4 billion and said it would consist of five phases.

“Chile is a superpower in terms of the development of energy storage due to the exceptional conditions of the Atacama Desert in terms of hours of solar radiation”, CEO of Grenergy David Ruiz de Andrés stated.

The system is expected to be completed within three years, and it will be put into operation in stages, contributing to network stability and the decarbonization of the economy, the company pointed out.

Grenergy said it signed a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for more than 8 TWh with Chilean company EMOAC. It is a subsidiary of COPEC, the country’s main fuel distributor.

“Oasis de Atacama will be an iconic project for Grenergy and the entire renewables sector. We have the backing of five international banks mandated to finance it, the secured sale with a PPA signed with EMOAC, and the know-how and talent needed to get it off the ground,” Ruiz de Andrés added.