Chile’s Biwo gets approval for standalone battery storage plant

The Environmental Assessment Service of the Chilean region of Maule has granted approval to local developer Biwo Renovables for its planned 20.64 MW / 82.56 MWh BESS project, Volcano Guallatiti.

According to an environmental impact statement submitted by Biwo, the project will cost $45 million, and it will cover a total area of 1.28 hectares in Retiro, in the Linares province in the Maule region.

Construction is expected to begin around September 2025, continuing until March 2026. On completion, the facility will be in use until at least September 2055, according to the documentation.

The batteries will be charged with surplus energy from the National Electricity System (SEN), at times where there is greater energy availability, and the system will then discharge the energy to the same SEN, depending on demand.

The storage system will use lithium-ferrophosphate (LFP) batteries, two-way converters and protection and control systems.

The proposed solution contains six units of 3.44 MW MT station with PCS and 24 battery container units of 3.44 MWh with total power of 20.64 MW/ 82.56 MWh at the beginning of life.

Each battery container will have a capacity of 3440 kWh, as well as a liquid cooling system and an air cooling and firefighting system.

In August, Biwo signed an agreement with SUSI Partners through its SUSI Energy Transition Fund (SETF) to finance the development of a battery energy storage portfolio in the central-south area of Chile, involving 22 projects with a total capacity of 860 MW and up to 3.5 GWh.