ContourGlobal has commissioned the battery energy storage system (BESS) at the Víctor Jara hybrid power plant in Chile’s Tarapacá Region. The facility combines a 231 MW solar photovoltaic plant with a 200 MW / 1.3 GWh storage system designed to provide up to 6.5 hours of continuous energy supply after sunset. The company says this is the longest-duration operational utility-scale BESS project in Latin America.
The plant forms part of ContourGlobal’s solar-plus-storage portfolio in Chile, which also includes the Quillagua 1 and 2 projects in the Antofagasta Region. Together, these assets total 221 MW of photovoltaic capacity and 1.2 GWh of storage.
All three projects were acquired from Grenergy in late 2024 for $962 million. The portfolio represents 23% of the broader Oasis de Atacama complex, which spans seven phases and comprises around 2 GW of solar capacity and 11 GWh of energy storage.
The Víctor Jara BESS enables dispatch of up to 200 MW of stored electricity during evening and nighttime hours. Its commercial structure is based on a 15-year nighttime power purchase agreement (PPA) with Copec EMOAC, forming part of ContourGlobal’s “Sun at Night” model, which shifts solar generation from daytime production to evening peak demand periods.
The company said the approach is intended to improve grid flexibility and support higher penetration of renewable energy by better aligning solar output with demand profiles.
The inauguration was attended by ContourGlobal’s South America General Manager James Lee Stancampiano and Chile’s Energy Minister Ximena Rincón González. With the commissioning of the Víctor Jara and Quillagua facilities, ContourGlobal said it has reached 850 MW of operational capacity in Chile across solar and storage assets. Globally, the KKR-owned company reports 5.5 GW of installed capacity, more than 3 GWh of operational BESS, and about 12.6 GW under development.
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