600 MWh of BYD batteries arrive for Chile’s Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage site

Grenergy, a Spanish independent power producer focused on the development of photovoltaic, wind, and energy storage projects, has announced the arrival, at the Chilean port of Iquique, of 105 BYD batteries which will complete the first phase of the Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage project.

The Chipol Guangan cargo ship, from Dachan, China, has docked after a 42-day journey with the containers on board which contain 1,050 MC Cube ESS battery modules with a total storage capacity of 600 MWh, Grenergy said.

The shipment is part of a strategic agreement signed in January 2024 with Chinese battery maker BYD for the supply of 1.1 GWh of large-scale energy storage products in the form of 2,136 Blade modules of its MC Cube ESS model.

The Oasis de Atacama project features an energy storage capacity of 11 GWh plus 2 GW of photovoltaic generation capacity. The project will be built in seven phases and will produce around 5.5 TWh of energy annually which will be shifted to non-solar-generation hours.

Grenergy said the batteries for the third phase of the project, agreed as an extension of the BYD supply deal in September 2024, are undergoing manufacture and expected to arrive on site in the first half of 2025.

The developer signed a supply deal with BYD’s Chinese rival CATL in October 2024, to supply 1.25 GWh of batteries for phase four of the Oasis de Atacama site.

Electricity offtake agreements for the first four phases of the project have been signed and Grenergy said deals for the remaining three phases are in an advanced stage of negotiation, with agreements expected within months.

Construction of the $2.3 billion project began in November 2023. Phase one of the site is set to be grid connected during 2024 and construction of the remaining stages is expected in 2025.

In July 2024, Grenergy announced  financial close of the first two phases of the project, for $345 million, with BNP Paribas, Natixis, Societe Generale, The Bank of Nova Scotia, and SMBC.

From pv magazine LatAm.