Engie advances construction of two retrofit battery storage systems in Chile

The Chilean arm of French multinational Engie is retroffiting utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) to its operating solar farms in Chile.

One of them is the 68 MW/418 MWh Tamaya BESS, located at the site of Engie’s former diesel power plant.

Once delivered, the project will feature 152 battery containers from Sungrow Power Supply and store energy generated by the Tamaya Solar Plant (114 MW), also owned by Engie. Tamaya, which deploys 551,000 solar panels, began injecting into the grid in December 2021 , and entered full commercial operation in February 2022.

The construction works on the Tamaya BESS project began in the first week of August 2023. Thus far, 60% of the works have been completed.

Some of the main achievements in the construction phase include full assembly of the prefabricated foundations and full assembly of the batteries. The next steps include the assembly and connection of the electrical rooms and the start of the cold commissioning phase.

Meanwhile, the 48 MW / 264 MWh Capricornio BESS broke ground in February. The battery system is collocated with the 88 MWac Capricornio Solar Plant, also owned by Engie.

The project is currently in the civil and electrical works phase, with 30% of the works already delivered. The installation works and the assembly of the prefabricated foundations of the batteries have already been completed.

In April, Engie inaugurated the 139 MW / 638 MWh BESS Coya storage project, also in Chile.

Engie Chile currently has 2.6 GW of installed capacity, 900 MW of which are renewable energy projects. The company aims to reach a 2 GW mark in 2028, entailing an investment of around $1.8 billion.

From pv magazine LatAm