Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Review and multi-criteria assessment of solar energy projects in Chile

M. Grgeda a,b,n, M. Escudero a, W. Alavia a, S. Ushak a,b, V. Fthenakis c
a
Department of Chemical Engineering and Minerals Processes and Center for Advanced Study of Lithium and Industrial Minerals (CELiMIN),
University of Antofagasta, Campus Coloso, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta, 02800 Antofagasta, Chile
b
Solar Energy Research Center (SERC-Chile), University of Chile, Av Tupper 2007, Piso 4, Santiago, Chile
c
Columbia University, Center for Life Cycle Analysis, USA and Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York, NY 10027, USA

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 9 October 2014
Received in revised form
17 December 2015
Accepted 17 December 2015
Available online 22 January 2016

Chile needs to increase its installed electric capacity to support economic growth. Currently, the total
demand is 67,564 GW h and an additional 22,508 GW h will be needed by 2020 to meet the energy
demand of industrial projects. The Chilean mining industry is a major electricity consumer in the country
accounting for one third total consumption over today. Solar energy has the highest potential for growth
in northern Chile as the north of the country hosts the highest solar resources of the world. In this paper
we present a comprehensive review of the energy supply and demand status, planning and prospects in
the country with focus on solar photovoltaic- and solar thermal-projects. As of the end of 2014, a solar
capacity of 2384 MW are operational and under construction, and more than 10,000 MW of solar power
plants have been proposed; most solar projects are located in northern regions where the mining takes
place. Considering a conservative scenario where one half of the proposed solar projects would be
operational before 2020, solar technology could cover a great part of the countrys energy requirements.
We evaluated eight operating PV plants and three operating solar thermoelectric plants based on a multicriteria assessment to offer a reference point for assessing future projects.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Solar energy
PV
Solar heat plants
NCRE
Multicriteria analysis

Contents
1.

2.

3.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
1.1.
Thermal energy background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
1.2.
Background on electricity demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
1.2.1.
NCRE policy integration into energy matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
1.2.2.
Structure of the electric grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
1.2.3.
Non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
1.2.4.
NCRE incorporation in mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
Solar technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
2.1.
Photovoltaic (PV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
2.2.
Concentrated solar power (CSP) and solar thermal collectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
Solar energy projects in Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586

Abbreviations: CAP, Compaa de Acero del Pacco; CDEC, Centro de Despacho Econmico de Carga (Center for Economic Load Dispatch); CER, Centro de Energias
Renovables (Center of Renewable Energy); CF, Capacity Factor; CNE, Comisin Nacional de Energa (National Energy Commission); COCHILCO, Comisin Chilena del Cobre
(Chilean Copper Commission); CODELCO, Corporacin Nacional del Cobre (Chile State Copper Company); CORFO, Corporacin de Fomento de la Produccin de Chile
(Production Development Corporation); CPC, Compound Parabolic Collector; CSP, Concentrated solar power; DNI, Direct Normal Irradiance; ER, Electrorened cathode
(pyrometallurgy); ETC, Evacuated Tube Collector; EW, Electrowinning; FP, footprint CO2; FPC, Flat Plate Collector; GHG, Greenhouse Gas; GHI, Global Horizontal Irradiation
(GHI); HFC, Heliostats Field Collector; IEA, International Energy Agency; INV, Investment; LFR, Lineal Fresnel Reector; LU, Land Use; LX, Leaching; MTF, Metric ton rened
copper; NCRE, Non conventional renewable energy; OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; PC, Parabolic-trough Collector; PDR, Parabolic Dish
Reector/Sterling Dish; PF, Performance; PPA, Power purchase agreement; PSF, Planta solar fotovoltaica (Photovoltaic Solar Plant); PV, Photovoltaic; TES, Thermal Energy
Storage; SEIA, Servicio Evaluacin Impacto Ambiental (Environmental Impact Assessment System); SIC, Sistema Interconectado Central (Central Interconnected System);
SING, Sistema Integrado del Norte Grande (Northern Interconnected System); SX, Solvent extraction
n
Corresponding author at: Department of Chemical Engineering and Minerals Processes and Center for Advanced Study of Lithium and Industrial Minerals (CELiMIN),
University of Antofagasta, Campus Coloso, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta, 02800 Antofagasta, Chile.
E-mail address: mario.grageda@uantof.cl (M. Grgeda).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.149
1364-0321/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

584

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

3.1.
Plants for electric production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.
Plants for heat production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. Sustainability analysis of the solar plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.
Sustainability of operational plants for electric production in Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.
Sustainability of operational plants for heat production in Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Introduction
Currently, there is no single report that compiles all the information related to the development of solar energy in Chile. One of
the sources for project-specic information is the Environmental
Impact Assessment System (SEIA). However, projects below or
equal to 3 MW do not make declarations of environmental impact.
Our review includes all large and small projects with nominal
power o 3 MW for which there is published information about its
location and consumer. We include data for economic and technical analysis of solar plants, such as technology, irradiation levels,
investment, and capacity factors. This comparative review offers a
tool to assess rates of return and cost of electricity, applied to all
solar technologies (e.g., PV, CSP without storage, combined cycle.)
installed in Chile. Thus, this article offers a source of useful data for
the evaluation of solar projects in Chile and illustrates the application of multi-criteria assessment to the evaluation of PV and
solar thermal plants. The results of this assessment that can be
used as reference points for assessing future projects.
1.1. Thermal energy background
In Chile, delivering heat and electricity to households and
industry has involved the burning of fossil fuels, and subsequently,
the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) that are a great concern
worldwide. By joining in 2010 the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), Chile made a commitment
to mitigate climate change by incorporating goals to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) [1]. The country started doing
that in 2008 by establishing Law 20.257 (known as 20/20) [2] that
introduced amendments to the general electric services on generating electrical power from nonconventional renewable energy
sources where power generators must introduce a quota of NCREgenerated electric power. Therein, solar technology preponderated
as a source of energy for the electrical- and thermal- supply. In
2009, law 20365 established a franchise tax for thermal-solar
systems, promoting the installation of solar thermal collectors for
heating water in buildings (i.e., low-temperature solar-thermal
systems) [3]. Solar water heating has been the most popular solar
system in Chile, greatly reducing peak electrical-load [4]. Due to
familiarity with the technology, large-scale solar heat for industrial
processes (SHIP) plants are considered for the northern regions of
Chile where the solar resources are the greatest. In the Atacama
Desert (Northern Chile) there is a remarkable annual global irradiation (GHI) of 3300 kW h/m2 on latitude tilt surfaces, almost
4000 kW h/m2 on one-axis tracking planes, and annual direct
normal irradiation (DNI) of 3000 kW h/m2 on two-axis tracking.
One-axis tracking systems receive 3000 h of sun per year, resulting
to capacity factors up to 34% [5].
1.2. Background on electricity demand
Chile faces huge challenges in developing its energy planning
policy to assure the sustainability required to meet increasingly

587
591
591
592
594
594
595
595

higher annual consumption by industrial companies [6,7]; presently, its electric matrix is vulnerable to uctuations in energy
supply. Chile [8] is highly dependent on imported fossil fuels,
whose high prices have increased the marginal costs of power
generation and, consequentially, the price of electricity.
The price of energy is a key cost driver within industrial production. For this reason, companies focus on systematically optimizing energy efciency in their production processes, so to
increase the country's industrial competitiveness.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), electricity
tariffs paid by the Chilean industry and households (Fig. 1a and b)
are higher, during recent years, than the average OECD tariffs [9].
Electricity prices increases have in general followed oil increases;
in the late 90s, the world average oil price stood at nominal levels
of around US$10 a barrel, whereas in 2012, that price was over
$100 a barrel [10], and this raised the cost of producing electricity
to both industry and households (Fig. 1a and 1b). However, the
rate of electricity price increases has been higher in Chile than in
other OECD countries, as Chile is almost entirely dependent on
imported fossil fuels. This dependency was exacerbated by lower
rainfall and drought that reduced the share of hydropower in the
country, natural gas shortages (2004 onwards), earthquakes that
affected the output of the electric matrix, and high level of concentration in the electricity market of few generator actors [11].
OECD members, after the oil crisis of the 1970s, started to
reduce their consumption and explore new resources, while they
also embarked in a long term effort to decouple economic growth
from the expansion of energy demand [12,13]; they achieved this
by using energy more efciently, aided by the development of new
technologies and equipment, by diversifying energy sources,
incorporating non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE), and by
orienting a restructuring of the economy towards services. Similarly, after the nancial crisis of 20072008, Chile decreased its
consumption of fossil fuels and introduced more hydropower, thus
lowering the rate of rise in electricity prices, but the period of
drought in 20102012 lowered the production of hydroelectric
power from South Chile. However, Chile's gross domestic product
is greatly dependent on the revenues of the metals and minerals
industries which require high amounts of energy, thus, making
decoupling of economic growth from energy demand growth
more problematic than in other OECD countries.
The current study considers two scenarios for predicting future
prices [10]. Over the short term, the prediction will depend on the
changes in international market fuel prices and the evolution of
hydrological scenarios that may affect the hydropower potential;
in the long term, price evolution will depend on diversied technologies e.g., non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) into the
energy mix, and its reliability in satisfying the growth of the
countrys electricity requirements.
1.2.1. NCRE policy integration into energy matrix
Chile is privileged in having conditions geared to the potential
of non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE); the State has
prioritized the diversication and sustainability of energy matrix

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

Fig. 1. (a) Electricity Prices for Industry in Chile and the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (the OEDC). Source: Own gure based on IEA Statistics: Electricity Information 2013. (b) Electricity Prices for Households in Chile
and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the OEDC).
Source: Own gure based on IEA Statistics: Electricity Information 2013.

incorporating it into its electrical systems. The NCRE encompasses

energy sources extending from mini hydroelectric plants to those
with up to 20 MW power capacity, power generation from biomass, geothermal- , solar-, wind- and oceanic resources. Over time,
the Chilean Government changed its general law of electric services formulated in 1981 (Law 19.674 in 2000, Short Law I in 2004,
Short Law II in 2005, Law 20.220 in 2007, Law 20.257 in 2008 most
commonly known NCRE Law, and Law 20.698 known as Law 20/25
in 2013), and in 1997 improved its regulatory framework for the
electric-power market and also introduced a mechanism to
directly support the NCREs investment projects. In particular, Law
20/25 [14], which modied and enhanced Law 20.257, mandated
that by 2025, electric companies (conventional generators) with
an installed capacity over 200 MW must incorporate 20% of NCRE
electricity into the electricity they trade to nal customers.
The Chilean National Energy Commission (CNE) projects that
the total electricity consumption in the main electric systems (SIC
and SING) will rise from 57.482 GW h in 2011, to 98.414 GW h in
2020 [15]. Consequently, an Energy Efciency Action Plan 2012
2020, was established in the 2012's national strategy [7], to guide
the public- and private-sectors in achieving energy efciency
usage and in diversifying its energy supply, currently dependent
on the output of thermal-power stations and hydroelectric plants.
This energy-efciency action is intended to reduce the costs of
energy, increase competitiveness, and reduce CO2 emissions.
1.2.2. Structure of the electric grid
The Chilean electricity grid comprises four systems (Fig. 2):

585

Fig. 2. Scheme of Chilean National Electric Systems. Source: Scheme based on data
of CDEC-SIC yearbook 20032012.

Northern Interconnected System (SING): it comprises genera-

tion centrals and transmission-interconnected lines that supply

electricity to the XV (Arica and Parinacota), I (Tarapac), and II
(Antofagasta) regions, covering 185,142 km2, and represents a
24.5% of the national territory. In December 2012, it represented
25.10% (4,600 MW) of the total installed capacity, being mainly
of the thermoelectric type constituted by coal-, diesel-, and
natural gas-power plants.
Central Interconnected System (SIC), which covers the regions
of Atacama, Coquimbo, Vaparaso, Metropolitana, Libertador
General Bernardo Ohiggins, Maule, Bo Bo, Araucana, Los Ros
and Los Lagos, representing 74.11% (13,545 MW) of installed
capacity in the country, which is obtained from thermal-,
hydro-, and fewer non-conventional renewable-energy
generation.
There also are two smaller interconnected systems in Aysn and
Magallanes that respectively represent only a 0.27% (50 MW)
and 0.55% (101 MW) of the total grid power, obtained by generating power from fossil fuels [16].

These four systems cover the country from the Northern region
of Arica and Parinacota to the Southern region of Magallanes. A
total installed capacity of 18328 MW was registered at the end of
2012. Although the private sector controls their operation, the
State, through its energy national commission (CNE), assesses
electric tariffs and assures that the systems and their functions
meet regulatory requirements and that they pass inspections.
1.2.3. Non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) composition
Until June 2014 [17], the total operating capacity of NCRE projects installed in the country reached 1710 MW (8.67% of the total
electric capacity systems up to now) that is distributed into 29.5%

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M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

of bioenergy (504 MW), 39.9% Eolic (682 MW), 19.9% hydraulic

(341 MW) and 10.8% Solar (184 MW).
Currently, 121 NCRE projects are in operation in which 33 of
them are related to small distributed generators (85.1 MW), 103 are
connected to the interconnected central system (SIC), 8 to the
interconnected northern system (SING), 7 to the Aysn system and
3 isolated systems are initiatives. As shown in Table 1 [17], NCRE
projects with the greatest potential are related to solar energy,
which are leading the environmental-impact-assessment approved
projects power plants around 5809 MW. In addition, 4155 MW are
under environmental qualication, representing a potential of
99645 MW from solar-energy projects.
1.2.4. NCRE incorporation in mining
Mining operations in Chile are one of the largest consumers of
electricity from the grid. Copper mining accounts are for about one
third of the total electricity consumption [18]. Electricity consumption represents about 20% of the copper production costs
[19]; thus the government and mining industry share an interest
for resolving the problems faced by the electrical power sector.
Most energy-demanding production facilities are located in
mining areas in the northern part of the country, connected to the
northern grid (SING), which primarily is supplied from
thermoelectric-power plants. Facilities located between Tal Tal in
the north and Chiloe in the south are connected to the interconnected central system (SIC) that mainly supplies electricity
generated by hydropower plants. High voltage connections of the
two grids are planned and the rst one is expected to be complete
by 2017. Such connections will increase the potential of using the
rich solar resources from the north of Chile to the rest of the
country and potentially neighboring countries [5].
Considering the availability of solar energy and its potential for
use in northern Chile, the aim of this work is to review both
photovoltaic- and solar-thermal projects that are operational,
under construction, and in state of evaluation; the uses of these
technologies in the industrial processes in Chile is also discussed.

Operational Under
construction
[MW]
[MW]

Approved Under
qualication
[MW]
[MW]

Bioenergy
Eolic
Mini-hydro
Solar PV
Solar CSP
Geothermal
TOTAL

504
682
341
184
0
0
1711

75
4542
290
5809
760
120
11596

22
154
34
448
100
0
758

Solar technologies produce heat and/or electricity depending of

technology and conguration. The main solar technologies considered
in Chile are photovoltaic and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP).
2.1. Photovoltaic (PV)
This technology comprises photovoltaic cells made from
semiconductor materials that, via the photoelectric effect, convert
solar energy directly into electricity. The commonest types are
made of mono- (m-Si), multicrystalline-(mc-Si) silicon [20], and
cadmium telluride thin-lm [21].
2.2. Concentrated solar power (CSP) and solar thermal collectors
This technology uses solar radiation as a heat source for
raising the temperature of a uid that functions as a heat transfer
and storage medium. The solar thermal collectors most commonly used for domestic- and industrial-heating (low- and
medium-thermal processes) are at-plate collectors (FPCs),
evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) and compound parabolic collectors (CPCs) [22].
If the goal is to produce electricity, high solar thermal processes
are used for generating power. Solar thermal concentrators collectors, like the Lineal Fresnel Reector (LFR), the parabolic-trough
collector (PC), Heliostats Field Collectors (HFC) and Parabolic Dish
Reector/ Sterling Dish (PDR) are used for that purpose (Table 2).
Concentrator collectors concentrate light of the sun in a receiver
designed to minimize heat loss and transfer that heat to a uid
carrier (oil, water, gas, or molten salt). Subsequently, the heatcarrying uid is transformed into mechanical energy by turbines
or other engines, and then into electricity.

3. Solar energy projects in Chile

The desert area of the Great North in Chile has a normal annual
average daily-solar-radiation (DNI) from 910 KW h/m2, with 360
clear, sunny days during the year, the best conditions for generating electricity and thermal energy from solar irradiance [23].
According to Cochilco's projection for the copper-mining
industry, energy consumption expected in 2025 to be 41.1 TW h,
being 23.7 TW h of the consumption of the northern mining
facilities connected to the SING grid and 17.5 TW h of mining
facilities connected to SIC grid. Furthermore, annual growth rate
will be 6.3% for the country, 5.9% for SING, and 7% for SIC [18].
Considering additionally that mining companies need to have a
supply of continuous energy whilst meeting environmental

Table 1
Status of NCRE project in SEIA [17].
Status

2. Solar technologies

74
2099
183
4155
0
0
6511

Table 2
Solar thermal collectors characteristics [22].
Motion

Collector type

Absorber type

Concentration ratio

Indicative temperature range (C)

Stationary

Flat plate collector (FPC)

Evacuated tube collector (ETC)
Compound parabolic collector (CPC)

Flat
Flat
Tubular

1
1
15
515

3080
50200
60240
60300

Linear Fresnel reector (LFR)

Parabolic trough collector (PTC)
Cylindrical trough collector (CTC)
Parabolic dish reector (PDR)

Tubular
Tubular
Tubular
Point

1040
1545
1050
1001000

60250
60300
60300
100500

Heliostat eld collector (HFC)

Point

1001500

1502000

Single-axis tracking

Two-axes tracking

Note: Concentration ratio is dened as the aperture area divided by the collectors receiver/absorber area.

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

standards at competitive prices, the NCRE generators have begun

to invest in Chile, mostly in the northern region, where most
mining investments are made [24].
To summarize this information, we classify solar projects by
Region and by status (Table 3) and subsequently into plants or
projects for electric (PV or CSP) and for heat production. More
detailed description of projects for electric production under
operational (Table 4), construction (Table 5ae), approved
(Table 6ae) and under environmental-qualication resolutions
(Table 7ag) for each region at June, 2014 is presented.
Only solar thermal plants in operation are identied to June
2014, summarized in Table 8.

Table 3.
Solar plants' nominal power (MW) classied by status (as of 2014 end).
Region

Operation

Construction

Approved

Qualication

Total

XV
I
II
III
IV
V
R.M.
Total

2.2
27.9
1.0
178.1
2.3
0.0
0.23
211.7

41.0
30.0
592.0
434.0
4.8
0.0
0.0
1101.8

730.0
837.2
3566.8
1127.9
20.0
0.0
0.0
6281.9

79.5
260.6
1125.4
1769.3
395.6
49.0
218.4
3897.8

852.7
1155.7
5285.1
3509.3
422.7
49.0
218.6
11493.2

587

3.1. Plants for electric production

Up to June of 2014, the operational solar PV plants in the
country reached a total nominal- power value of 211.7 MW, which
comprises the nominal powers of plants connected to the grid and
isolated ones; they separated by region in Table 3. There are several differences between this table and the July CER Report in
Table 1. This reects the fact that the CER Report mostly includes
solar plants connected to the electric grid. On the other hand, the
differences in construction, approved, and qualied are explicable
by delays in the actualization of the projects' status. Projects below
or equal to 3 MW do not make declarations of environmental
impact. Hence, the report did not have included all of them, due to
a lack of consolidated information.
The northern regions of Chile, comprising regions XV, I, II, III,
and IV , are leading solar electric-power operations due to the
higher concentration of mining projects [25] and its increased use
of energy for such activities. Additionally, its geographical location
offers the best climate conditions (i.e. higher levels of radiation
and 360 sunny days) for installing and operating solar power
plants.
As Table 3 shows, Region II (Antofagasta) is leading solar
construction and approved projects in almost a half of such
projects compared to other regions. This is due to investments in
mining (US$ 43 billion, equivalent to 38% of the total investment),
followed closely by Region III of Atacama where total investments
were projected in US$ 34 billon (30% of total investment) [24].

Table 4
Solar photovoltaic plants in operationn [31,32].
Name

Region Comune

Latitude
(decimal)

Longitude
(decimal)

GHI (kW h/
m2/year)

Nominal power
(MW)

Capacity
factornn (%)

Power off-taker

El guila 1
La Huayca (Stage I of III: SPS
Huayca I)
Parque Solar Los Puquios
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo
Almonte Solar 2
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo
Almonte Solar 3
Calama Solar 3
Santa Cecilia Solar
Amanecer Solar CAP (P.F. Llano
de Llampos)
El Salvador RTS (Planta Fotovoltaica Esperanza)
Solar San Andrs
Subsole
Parque Solar Diego de Almagro
Enel
Solar Andacollo (SDGx01)
Tambo Real
Techos de Altamira
Planta Oasis de Gas Andes
TOTAL

XV
I

Arica
Pozo Almonte

 18.4428
 20.4386

 69.8871
 69.5129

2197
2241

2.2
1.4

27.62
n/a

SING
SING

I
I

Pozo Almonte
Pozo Almonte

 20.4560
 20.2716

 69.5353
 69.7563

2241
2241

3
7.5

19.36
32.29

Pozo Almonte

 20.2519

 69.7424

2241

16

35.41

II
III
III

Calama
Vallenar
Copiap

 22.4253
 29.1153
 27.1111

 69.0000
 70.9153
 70.1806

2508
2040
1796

1
3
93.65

n/a
25.06
30.25

SING
Minera Collahuasi/
SING
Minera Collahuasi/
SING
Codelco
SIC
CAP/SIC

III

Diego de
Almagro
Copiap
Tierra Amarilla
Diego de
Almagro
Andacollo
Vicua
Pealolen
San Bernardo

 26.2387

 69.5776

2329

2.88

26.84

Codelco/SIC

 27.2474
 27.7362
 26.3800

 70.1204
 70.1890
 69.9400

1799
1796
2329

48.2
0.31
30

28.31
n/a
n/a

SIC
SIC
SIC

 30.2361
 30.0479
 33.4781
 33.5553

 71.0828
 70.7691
 70.5380
 70.7167

1843
2088
1997
1997

1.2
1.08
0.2
0.025
211.7

22.24
25.18
n/a
n/a

Minera Dayton/SIC
SIC
SIC
Gas Andes

III
III
III
IV
IV
RM
RM

The list of plants include only the ones that have started operation as of June 2014; there more plants operating at this time.
Capacity Factors correspond to 12 months production from November 2014 to October 2015.

nn

Table 5a
Solar photovoltaic projects in construction to June 2014 in the XV region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

Power off-taker

PSF ARICA I
PSF ARICA I 8 MW
PSF ARICA II, 15 MW
TOTAL

Arica
Arica
Arica

 18.5055
 18.5030
 18.5108

 70.1142
 70.0888
 70.0728

2197
2197
2197

18
8
15
41

SING
SING
SING

588

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

However, the III region of Atacama currently is leading solar

electricity generation compared to the Antofagasta region. Mining
companies, in order to mitigate rising power costs due to the
higher demand for electric power required for expanding its
mining projects, and also to minimize the effects of shortages and
grid congestion, have started to sign long-term power-purchaseagreements (PPAs) with solar-power developers. From the sixteen
PV plants listed in Table 4, three operating in the Atacama region
were have PPA with their respective power developers; these are
the Amanecer Solar/CAP, Salvador RTS/Codelco and Diego de
Almagro Enel plants.by The other plants are operating in the spot
market.
The currently largest operational solar PV plant is Sunedison's
Amanecer Solar in Region III of Atacama (Table 4). The Compaa
de Acero del Pacco (CAP, iron-ore mining producer) signed a
long-term PPA with Sunedison, which through its operational

solar-plant, provides the 90% of electric energy required for the

mining plant complex called Cerro Negro. First Solar's Luz del
Norte 141 MW PV plant, scheduled to start operation in January
2016, would sell electricity in the spot market.
Chile is one of the few markets in the world where solar projects are obliged to be competitive in a free market. The increase of
photovoltaic plants being operating in the spot market, as well as
increased purchase agreements with mining energy companies;
demonstrate that PV technology is competitive without any subsidies in Chile.
Despite that, construction has not begun on the large number
of solar projects in approved status for regions II and III (see
Table 3) a mostly due to the lack of direct power purchase
agreements (PPA contracts) between the owners of the PV plants
and the end mining companies/end consumers. From the viewpoint of fund investors, Chilean banks or other nancial entities

Table 5b
Solar photovoltaic projects in construction to June 2014 in the I region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude
(decimal)

Longitude
(decimal)

GHI
(kW h/
m2/
year)

Nominal
power
(MW)

Power
offtaker

La Huayca
(I II).
La Huayca
(I II III).
TOTAL

Pozo
Almonte
Pozo
Almonte

 20.4520

 69.5327

2241

SING

 20.4532

 69.5389

2241

30

SING

39

Table 5c
Solar PV and CSP projects in construction to June 2014 in the II region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal) Longitude

(decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/

year)

Solar technology Nominal power

(MW)

Power offtaker

San Pedro de Atacama I

San Pedro de Atacama II
San Pedro de Atacama III
San Pedro de Atacama IV
Calama Sur
PV Mara Elena
PV Lalackama
Optimization Parque Elico
Quillagua
Cerro Dominador
TOTAL

Calama
Calama
Calama
Calama
Calama
Mara Elena
Taltal
Mara Elena

 22.5534
 22.5748
 22.5914
 22.5258
 22.6030
 22.2134
 25.1068
 21.6428

 68.7711
 68.5680
 68.7063
 69.0000
 69.0453
 69.5833
 70.3143
 69.5137

2508
2508
2508
2508
2300
2300
1814
2256

PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV

30
30
30
30
30
72
60
100

SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SIC
SING

Mara Elena

 22.7952

 69.4887

2300

PV/CSP

110/100
592

SING

Table 5d
Solar photovoltaic projects in construction to June 2014 in the III region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

Power off-taker

PS Diego de Almagro (PS Pedernales)

PV Luz del Norte
PV Salvador
Planta Solar Chaares
TOTAL

Diego de Almagro
Copiap
Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro

 26.4293
 27.0143
 26.3071
 26.3800

 69.9688
 69.8991
 69.8838
 69.9400

2329
2329
2329
2329

162
162
70
40
434

SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC

Table 5e
Solar photovoltaic projects in construction to June 2014 in the IV region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

PSF Pama
PSF Lomas Coloradas
TOTAL

Combar-bal
Combar-bal

n/a
n/a

n/a
n/a

n/a
n/a

2.4
2.4
4.8

Power off-taker

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

589

Table 6a
Solar photovoltaic projects approved to June 2014 in the XV region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal) Longitude (decimal) GHI (kW h/m2/

year)

Nominal power (MW) Power off-taker

PSF ARICA II, MARIA JOSE 88 MW, LT

220 kV
Parque Solar EL GUILA ( Parque Lluta)
Parque Solar Azapa
PSF Pampa Camarones
Proyecto PV Dos Cruces
Parque Fotovoltaico Willka
PSF EL AGUILA II
TOTAL

Arica

 18.5898

 70.1095

1902

88

SING

Arica
Arica
Arica-Camarones
Arica
Arica
Arica

 18.4895
 18.4827
 18.8542
 18.4990
 18.4996
 18.4465

 69.9155
 70.2300
 70.1278
 70.1285
 70.1220
 69.8872

2197
1902
1902
1902
1902
2197

70
104
300
30
98
40
730

SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING

Table 6b
Solar photovoltaic projects approved to June 2014 in the I region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude
(decimal)

Longitude
(decimal)

GHI (kW h/
m2/year)

Nominal power
(MW)

Power offtaker

PARQUE SOLAR ALMONTE (planta solar almonte)

Planta Fotovoltaica Lagunas 30 MW y Lnea de Transmisin
220 kV PFV Lagunas - SS/EE Lagunas (Planta PV Lagunas)
PARQUE FOTOVOLTAICO ATACAMA SOLAR 250 MW
Planta Fotovoltaica Salar de Huasco 30 MW y Lnea de
Transmisin 66 kV PFV Salar de Huasco - LAT Pozo Almonte
Altos de Pica (Complejo Solar FV Pica 90 MW)
Pica (Complejo Solar FV Pica 90 MW)
Pintados (Complejo Solar FV Pica 90 MW)
LA TIRANA SOLAR
PSF WARA III
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Huatacondo
Parque Solar El Tamarugo
Parque Solar El Algarrobo
Parque Solar El Pimiento
Parque Solar El Chaar
Parque Fotovoltaico Gramadal
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo Almonte Solar 1, I Regin
TOTAL

Pozo Almonte
Pozo Almonte

 20.2600
 20.9303

 69.7396
 69.4568

2241
2241

75
30

SING
SING

Matilla
Pica y La
Tirana
Pica
Pica
Pozo Almonte
Pozo Almonte
Huara
Pozo Almonte
Pozo Almonte
Pozo Almonte
Pozo Almonte
Pozo Almonte
Huara
Pozo Almonte

 20.4983
 20.2640

 69.4479
 69.4149

2241
2241

250
30

SING
SING

 20.4600
 20.5400
 20.6000
 20.3760
 20.0009
 21.1718
 20.2479
 20.2474
 20.2481
 20.2482
 19.5637
 20.2658

 69.2700
 69.4100
 69.4900
 69.6640
 69.7544
 69.5587
 69.6614
 69.6591
 69.6619
 69.6615
 69.9858
 69.7528

2241
2241
2241
2241
2227
2256
2241
2241
2241
2241
2227
2241

30
30
30
30
45
98
22
22
22
22
92
9
837

SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING

prefer PPA nancial instruments and creditworthy companies for

funding solar projects via term loans so to diminish the risks
associated to the project. This situation is due to the lack of
experience in ordering which solar technologies in the country
should be rst addressed in order to apply for funding. Other
difculties, like lack of access to funds that t the need of the
project nancing, lack of experience in funding under Project
Finance (long-term credits and in dollars) and an aversion to
cultural risk also are considered [26]. Fortunately, multilateral
banks such as the InterAmerican Development Bank (IADB), the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have played an important role in
nancing a large part of the debt capital for private investment,
including merchant projects for solar plants that deliver all this
energy to the spot market [27]. The second largest operational
solar plant, called the San Andrs 50.7 MWp (Table 4), located in
the III region of Atacama is one of the largest merchant solar plants
in Latin America. San Andres, developed by SunEdison, is distributing energy directly into the Central Interconnected System
(SIC) and selling the energy on a merchant basis, with prices
determined by the spot market instead of a long-term off-take
contract. Nowadays, high solar irradiance and spot electricity prices have made of this solar PV plant a competitive alternative to
traditional energy sources [28].
From the view point of solar-power generators, long-term
contracts (PPAs) also are preferred since they reduce exposure to
the volatility of spot-market prices. However, they are difcult to

obtain due to the complex process of negotiation with mining

companies, which mostly have signed previously PPAs for several
years with thermal-power stations.
From the viewpoint of the energy demand of mostly mining
companies, and according to solar technology (PV or CSP), their
usage of solar energy for consumption could be marginal. The
mining industry's electric demand in the North of Chile depends
highly on a steady base-load energy supply, mostly delivered from
Thermal Power Stations using coal and natural gas. They consume
90% of the northern area's total electricity, 24 h a day, 365 days a
year, with a year load factor of 0.88 (201213) [29]. Photovoltaics
without storage can provide a capacity factor of about 34%, complementing the supply of electrical energy delivered by thermal
power stations on the grid. However, CSP with storage technologies, like Solar Power Tower of Cerro Dominador of Abengoa under
construction (Table 5c) has a design capacity factor of 80% providing electricity 24 h a day in most days of the year.
Besides energy consumption, environmental commitment to
sustainable development in large- scale mining companies must
be considered. Collahuasi copper mine (third largest mine in the
world) located in I region of Tarapac, established a total PPA with
Pozo Almonte Solar (Pozo Almonte II and Pozo Almonte III) of
25 MWp (SolarPack) to expand its energy portfolio, including solar
energy, so to diminish its carbon footprint (CO2 ton/kW h). This
solar photovoltaic park will permit the Collahuasi mine to meet 13
percent of its daytime power needs via solar energy power [30].

590

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

Table 6c
Solar PV and CSP projects approved to June 2014 in the II region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude
(decimal)

Longitude
(decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/

year)

Planta Termosolar Pedro de Valdivia

Planta Termosolar Mara Elena
Huerta Solar Fotovoltaica 8 MW
Central Sol del Loa
Parque Fotovoltaico Los Andes
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Laberinto Este
PROYECTO FOTOVOLTAICO LABERINTO OESTE
PLANTA FOTOVOLTAICA CRUCERO SOLAR
PLANTA FOTOVOLTAICA ENCUENTRO SOLAR
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Domeyko Este
PROYECTO FOTOVOLTAICO DOMEYKO 2
PROYECTO FOTOVOLTAICO CRUCERO ESTE
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Crucero Oeste
Proyecto PV Coya
PARQUE FOTOVOLTAICO TOCOPILLA
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Usya
PARQUE SOLAR FOTOVOLTAICO AGUAS BLANCAS I
Proyecto Solar Sky 1
Proyecto Solar Sky 2
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Pacic
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Inti
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Sol de Lila
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Valle del Sol
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Pampa Solar Sur
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Pampa Solar Norte
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Flor del Desierto
Proyecto PV Solar Conejo
Proyecto fotovoltaico Uribe Solar
Proyecto La Cruz Solar
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Calama Solar 1, II Regin (eseia) (Calama Solar)
PSF CALAMA SOLAR 2
TOTAL

Mara Elena
Mara Elena
Antofagasta
Mara Elena
Antofagasta
Sierra Gorda
Sierra Gorda
Mara Elena
Mara Elena
Antofagasta
Antofagasta
Mara Elena
Mara Elena
Mara Elena
Mara Elena
Calama
Antofagasta
Mara Elena
Mara Elena
Mara Elena
Mara Elena
Antofagasta
Mara Elena
Taltal
Taltal
Antofagasta
Taltal
Antofagasta
Mara Elena
Calama

 22.7385
 22.1731
 24.0154
 21.3739
 23.9895
 23.4681
 23.4681
 22.2071
 22.2814
 24.1633
 24.0570
 22.3289
 22.3288
 22.2701
 22.2780
 22.4908
 24.1216
 22.2318
 22.2274
 22.2053
 22.1942
 24.0250
 22.3222
 25.7650
 25.5406
 23.8678
 25.5122
 23.5528
 22.2479
 22.4378

 69.5865
 69.4793
 68.5943
 69.3438
 68.5879
 69.4171
 69.4201
 69.5930
 69.5692
 69.3367
 69.5627
 69.5244
 69.5263
 69.5715
 69.5574
 68.8464
 69.8464
 69.5833
 69.5833
 69.5907
 69.5901
 68.5850
 69.5867
 70.3699
 70.1962
 69.8540
 70.1761
 70.2202
 69.6161
 68.8704

2300
2300
2511
2256
2511
2259
2259
2300
2300
2270
2270
2300
2300
2300
2300
2508
2270
2300
2300
2300
2300
2511
2300
1814
1814
2259
1814
1956
2300
2508

Calama

 22.4365

 68.8683

2508

Nominal power
(MW)

Power offtaker

CSP
CSP
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV
PV

360
400
8
110
220
76.7
69.8
180
180
111.97
159.67
127.87
160.36
80
192.6
25
8.8
26
26
54
69.5
122
143
90.9
90.6
50
306
50
50
9

SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SING
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SING
SING
SING

PV

9
3566.8

SING

Table 6d
Solar photovoltaic projects approved to June 2014 in the III region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal) Longitude (decimal) GHI (kW h/m2/

year)

Nominal power
(MW)

Power off-taker

Planta Fotovoltaica Denersol II.

Planta fotovoltaica Denersol III.
Planta Fotovoltaica Canto del Agua 21 MW.
Planta Fotovoltaica Diego de Almagro
Solar.
Proyecto GENPAC Fotovoltaico.
Parque Solar Fotovoltaico DAS.
Parque Solar Carrera Pinto.
Parque PV Diego de Almagro
Valleland Solar
CENTRAL SOLAR CHAKA
Parque Solar Los Loros
Central Desierto de Atacama
El Romero Solar
Proyecto fotovoltaico Sol de los Andes
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Malgarida
PSF El Adelantado
Proyecto Parque Solar Javiera
Planta PV Carrera II
Planta PV El Salado I
TOTAL

Vallenar
Vallenar
Vallenar
Diego de Almagro

 28.411907
 28.41804
 28.418312
 26.370983

 70.773952
 70.783221
 70.781765
 70.075229

2011
2011
2011
1781

7.5
30
21
90

SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC

Copiap
Diego de Almagro
Copiap
Diego de Almagro
Vallenar
Diego de Almagro
Tierra Amarilla
Copiap
Vallenar
Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro
Chaaral
Chaaral
Copiap
Diego de Almagro

 27.49118912
 26.36827919
 27.00016444
 26.37403448
 28.14102569
 26.30629952
 27.85137752
 27.85761267
 29.10737491
 26.31202941
 26.27150803
 26.08988478
 26.30797422
 27.11713336
 26.47919122

 70.38041065
 70.07094418
 69.87728618
 70.01890998
 70.67730692
 69.93666131
 70.16848335
 70.19193963
 70.91805988
 69.93302074
 69.9454851
 70.03218122
 70.2088683
 69.93550128
 69.94041516

1796
1781
2329
1781
2011
2328
1796
1796
2040
2329
2329
1781
1781
2314
2329

14
9.7
135
52
60
20
50.22
120
196
100
28
47.5
75
36
36
1127.92

SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SING
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC

Table 6e
Solar photovoltaic projects approved to June 2014 in the IV region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

Power off-taker

PSF El Salitral
TOTAL

Combarbal

 31.20204315

 71.03390181

1866

20
20

SIC

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

591

Table 7a
Solar photovoltaic projects in evaluation to June 2014 in the XV region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

Power off-taker

Proyecto Fotovoltaico Los Manolos

TOTAL

Arica

 18.5995

 70.1878

2197

79.5
79.5

SING

Table 7b
Solar photovoltaic projects in evaluation to June 2014 in the I region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

Power off-taker

PROYECTO FOTOVOLTAICO LAGUNAS

Planta Solar Pintados
Pampa Solar
TOTAL

Pozo Almonte
Pozo Almonte
Pozo Almonte

 20.9287
 20.6127
 20.2713

 69.4548
 69.5022
 69.7577

2241
2241
2241

63.18
77.4
120
260.58

SING
SING
SING

Table 7c
Solar photovoltaic projects in evaluation to June 2014 in the II region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

Power off-taker

Alfa Solar
Parque Fotovoltaico Capricornio
Proyecto fotovoltaico Azabache
Proyecto Solar Toro
Parque Solar Fotovoltaico Sol del Desierto
Proyecto Parque Solar Las Luces
Proyecto Parque Solar Aguas Blancas 2
Proyecto Parque Fotovoltaico GRACE
TOTAL

Mara Elena
Antofagasta
Calama
Taltal
Mara Elena
Taltal
Taltal
Tocopilla

 22.2119
 23.4021
 22.4882
 25.1074
 22.1486
 25.7274
 23.9178
 22.2631

 69.5159
 70.1777
 68.8134
 70.2519
 69.5704
 70.3578
 69.7929
 70.1754

2300
1956
2508
1814
2300
1814
2259
1971

280
90
77
56
369.36
48
180
25
1125.36

SING
SING
SING
SIC
SING
SIC
SIC
SING

3.2. Plants for heat production

Table 8 shows the three solar thermal plants currently operational in Chile. They supply an amount of heat to electro-winningsolvent extraction stages associated to their respective mining
operational process, to stabilize the mining heating costs, due to
the variation of the fossil fuel prices, which are expected to rise
over time. Additionally, it will diminish the emissions of greenhouse gases, and consequently the carbon footprint.
The reason why mining copper companies have decided to use
solar heat in EW/SX process is due to GHG of leachable ore
treatment surpassed by far other sources of emission like concentration stage, smelters, as is evident in Table 9 that gives the
direct incidence in the carbon footprints values of the cathode's
end products.
In Table 8, one of the biggest thermal solar plants in its type is
Elvira Solar of CODELCO, Gabriela Mistral Division, located in
Sierra Gorda commune, in Antofagasta region, that began operating in 2013. It was developed by Energa LLaima &Sunmark, consisting of 2620 at plane panels of 15 m2 each (total collector area
39,300 m2), delivering 54 GW h/year. This solar heat plant has a
thermal storage system such as 4000 m3 stratied tank allowing
deliver the heat required in the operations of heating solutions up
to 50 C during the 24 h per day. The Elvira Solar replace 80% of
fuel oil consumption used to heat the electrolyte in the copper
electro-obtaining process for copper [37]; therefore, seven million
dollars will be saved due to the lower cost of energy in the ten
years of the contract [38].

4. Sustainability analysis of the solar plants

A further analysis of the sustainability of the operating solar
plants was based on multi-criteria assessment [39] made as a

source of information for future projects valuations. For that purpose, sustainability indicators featuring some of the main technical, economic-, and environmental-characteristics for the projects
are considered. The indicators were based on the information
available and a modied method is proposed to qualify the projects. It was based on the decision-making procedure [40]. This
method reects the combined effect of all the criteria under consideration, and is expressed in the form of a General Index of
Sustainability, Q.
The decision-making procedure comprises several steps so to
obtain a mathematical tool for assessing the rating among the
options under consideration [41]. The rst step is to dene the
indicator, x, and collect the data to calculate them. The second step
is to determine the particular membership functions q. To estimate
this function for every Indicator x, we have to do the following:
(1) Fix two values MIN(i),MAX(i); (2) indicate if the function qi(xi)
decreases or increases with an increase in argument x ; (3) chose
the exponent s value in the formula for the increasing the
function q given below:

qixi

8
0; if xi r MINi
>
>

<

>
>
:

xi  MINi
MAX i  MINi

; if MINi oxi r MAXi

1; if xi 4 MAXi

The general index method comprises the formation of an

aggregative function Q with the m- weighted arithmetic mean as
the synthesizing function dened as follows:
Q

m
X

pi qi

i1

where pi are the weight coefcients of the qi function. They are

determined according to the function's objective.

SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
119.2
54.72
36
80.8
48.9
698
112
50
61.5
100.8
47.4
114
90
35
50
8
63
1769.3
1781
1781
2329
1781
1781
2329
2329
1796
2011
2329
2329
2040
2329
1796
2329
1796
2329

This method was modied to be able to evaluate the studied

plants using the available information given in Tables 8 and 9. In
the new method, the second step was changed.
The particular membership function q was separated in two
types of function, q and q  . It depends on the relationship of q
with the indicator x. If the increasing of the indicator x is favorable
(e.g. efciency) the function q is named q and its value is
determined according to Eq. (3); otherwise, when the indicator
increases is unfavorable (e.g. the investment), it is named q  and
its value is calculated with Eq. (4). For both membership functions
their values range from 0 to 1, being 0 the worst and 1 the best
qualication for the sustainability indicator (e.g. q 1 means the
highest efciency and q  1 refers to the lowest investment).
8
>
>



<
V i  xi
3
q ;i xi 1 V i xi ; if V i r xi
>
>
: 1; if xi 4 V i

q  ;i xi

8
>
>
<

1

V i  xi
V i xi

>
>
: 1; if xi o V i

; if V i Z xi

Comune

Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro
Chaaral
Diego de Almagro
Copiap
Diego de Almagro
Tierra Amarilla
Vallenar
Copiap
Copiap
Vallenar
Copiap
Copiap
Diego de Almagro
Copiap
Diego de Almagro
Ampliacin Planta Fotovoltaica Diego de Almagro Solar (90 MW to 119,2 MW)
Parque Solar Fotovoltaico DAS2
Planta FV El Salado II
Proyecto fotovoltaico Sol de Atacama
Proyecto fotovoltaico Sierra Soleada
Proyecto Campos del Sol Sur
Proyecto fotovoltaico Llanta
PLANTA FOTOVOLTAICA SOLAR 9 Y LINEA DE TRANSMISION 110 kV
Parque Solar Abasol
Proyecto fotovoltaico Sol de Varas
SOLAIREDIRECT GENERACION CARRERA PINTO
DIA Divisadero
NUEVA PLANTA FOTOVOLTAICA CARRERA PINTO SOLAR
PLANTA FOTOVOLTAICA CARDONES SOLAR I (35 MW)
Proyecto Guanaco Solar
Proyecto Fotovoltaico Chamonate Solar
Parque Solar Pedernales
TOTAL

 26.3653
 26.2647
 26.4757
 26.6258
 26.4177
 27.0381
 26.3737
 27.8606
 28.6150
 27.0117
 27.0226
 29.1295
 26.9879
 27.5899
 26.3259
 27.2804
 26.3366

 70.0833
 69.9884
 69.9424
 70.2676
 70.1181
 69.9128
 69.9478
 70.1993
 70.8104
 69.8959
 69.9155
 70.9078
 69.8744
 70.4480
 69.9364
 70.3905
 69.7163

Eq. (2) was modied to assure that the project with the highest
Q value is the most sustainable project. The resultant equation is

Name

Table 7d
Solar photovoltaic projects in evaluation to June 2014 in the III region [31,32].

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Power off-taker

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

Nominal power (MW)

592

m
X
i1

q ;i q  ;i

4.1. Sustainability of operational plants for electric production in

Chile
For evaluating the electric projects, we determined the following indicators: the Land use LU in km2/kW, Investment INV in
USD/kW, the Capacity factor CF in %, and the CO2 foot print CO2FP
in g eq CO2/kW h. The values for the LU, CO2, FP and INV indicators
reported by Afgan and Carvalho [39] for PV solar plants were used.
The CF value is the average value for PV plants in Chile. The
indicators are presented in Table 10.
The q 7 's were calculated from Eqs. ((3) and 4) using the
reference values shown in Table 10 and the LU, INV, CO2FP and CF
given in Table 11. Due to the CO2FP for the projects studied are not
available, they were estimated following the methodology
described by Fthenakis [41], using the global irradiance on latitude
tilt, the panel and mounting types specied in Table 11. The q 7
values are reported in Table 12. It is worthy to mention that the
criterion to consider a project sustainable is that all q 7 values
must be 1. It implies that the investment, land use and CO2 foot
print are lower or equal; and capacity factor is greater or equal
than the sustainability indicators values. It was dened according
to technical, environmental, and economic considerations. To
obtain Q, the q 7 values were replaced in Eq. (5). The Qs are
presented in Table 12.
According to the values for Q, the sustainable plants are the
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo Almonte Solar 3 and Amanecer
Solar CAP. They both have Q values of 4.00, therefore all their
indicators reach the reference values, even more their land use,
investment, CO2 footprint are lower, and capacity factors are
greater than them (See Table 10) as it can be seen in Table 11.
Proyecto Solar San Andres, El Aguila and Planta Solar Fotovoltiaca
Pozo Almonte Solar 2 are very close to sustainability (QsZ3.92).
They accomplish the sustainability references for land use, CO2
foot print and investment, except the Planta Solar Fotovoltaica
Pozo Almonte Solar 2, which investment is greater than the
reference (q  , INV 0.92). Respect to the capacity factor, the values

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

593

Table 7e
Solar photovoltaic projects in evaluation to June 2014 in the IV region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

Power off-taker

Proyecto Fotovoltaico El Pelcano

Parque Solar Estancia
Parque Solar Punta del Viento
Parque Solar Fotovoltaico Caracas
Parque Fotovoltaico La Huella
Parque Fotovoltaico Lagunillas-El Olivo
TOTAL

Vallenar
La Higuera
La Higuera
Los Vilos
La Higuera
Ovalle

 29.1410
 29.3738
 29.3499
 31.8790
 29.1379
 30.5038

 70.8718
 71.0558
 71.0361
 71.4383
 70.8887
 71.1096

2040
1825
2040
1861
2040
1843

100.8
88
46.8
20
60
80
395.6

SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC
SIC

Table 7f
Solar photovoltaic projects in evaluation to June 2014 in the V region [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

Power off-taker

Parque Solar Bartolillo

PSF Doa Carmen
TOTAL

Cabildo
La Ligua

 32.3778
 32.4812

 70.8584
 71.2477

2015
1887

9
40
49

SIC
SIC

Table 7g
Solar photovoltaic projects in evaluation to June 2014 in the Metropolitan region (R.M.) [31,32].
Name

Comune

Latitude (decimal)

Longitude (decimal)

GHI (kW h/m2/year)

Nominal power (MW)

Power off-taker

Parque Solar Los Aromos

Proyecto Parque Solar Quilapiln
Parque Fotovoltaico, Planta Cerro Blanco
TOTAL

Til Til
Colina
Til Til

 33.0860
 33.1037
 33.1452

 70.8550
 70.6879
 70.8391

1997
1997
1997

81
117.40
20.00
218.4

SIC
SIC
SIC

Table 8
Operational solar thermal plants in the II region [3335].
Name

Latitude
(decimal)

Longitude
(decimal)

GHI (kW h/
m2/year)

Solar
technology

Nominal power
(MW t)

Performance (%) Power off-taker

Planta Solar Pukar de Hatur

(Minera Constanza)
Planta Pampa Elvira Solar (Div.
Gabriela Mistral - Codelco)
Planta CSP El Tesoro

 23.4675

 70.1636

1956

FPC

0.06

49.5

Minera Constanza

 23.4152

 68.8199

2511

FPC

32.2

51

 22.9278

 69.1038

2300

PTC

10

41

Div Gabriela Mistral

Codelco
El Tesoro-Antofagasta
Minerals

Table 9
Units emission loads by type of process [36].
Process Area

Unit

Open Pit
Underground
Concentrating
plant
Smelter

MT CO2 eq./MTF
MT CO2 eq./MTF
MT CO2 eq./MTF
concentrate
MT CO2 eq./MTF
anodes
MT CO2 eq./MTF
cathodes
MT CO2 eq./MTF
cathodes
MT CO2 eq./MTF
production

Renery
LX-SX-EW
Services

Table 10
Indicators for determining the sustainability of the solar PV plants in operation
in Chile.
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

ore
ore

0.38
0.17
0.92

0.42
0.2
0.92

0.44
0.22
1.04

0.47
0.31
1.40

0.55
0.28
1.50

0.84

0.81

0.86

1.08

1.10

ER

0.24

0.25

0.22

0.30

0.30

EW

2.06

1.92

2.21

2.67

2.81

total

0.10

0.10

0.10

0.11

0.17

Indicator

Membership
function

Observation

Land use, LU(km2/kw)

0,12 [39]

q  ,LU

Investment, INV (USD/

kW)
Capacity factor, CF (%)

4500 [39] q  ,INV

Smaller value is
better
Smaller value is
better
Higher value is
better
Smaller value is
better

28.761

CO2 Foot print, CO2 FP (g 100 [39]

CO2 eq/kW h)
1

q ,CF
q  ,CO2 FP

The average capacity factor reported in Table 11.

594

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

Table 11
Land use, investment, capacity factor and CO2 foot print of the solar PV plants in operation in Chile.
Project name

Region

Land use (km2/kW)

Investment (USD/kW)

Capacity factor (%)

CO2 foot printa (g CO2 eq/kW)

El guila 1
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo Almonte Solar 2
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo Almonte Solar 3
Amanecer Solar CAP (P.F. Llano de Llampos)
Proyecto Solar San Andrs
Tambo Real
Solar Andacollo (SDGx01)

XV
I
I
III
III
IV
IV

2.3E-05
6.9E-05
7.9E-05
3.3E-05
2.7E-05
2.3E-05
1.9E-05

3182
5333
4438
2573
2500
2778
2500

27.62
32.29
35.41
30.25
28.31
25.18
22.24

18
18
18
18
19
24
18

It was estimated from [41].

Table 12
Memberships, q 7 , and aggregative functions, Q, of the solar PV plants in operation
in Chile.
Name

Region q  ,

LU

q,

CF

q,

INV

q  , CO2 Q

Table 13
Indicators for Determining the Sustainability of the solar thermal plants in operation in Chile.
Indicator

Reference sustainMembership
ability value, xs [39] function

Observation

Land Use, LU
(km2/kW)
Investment, INV
(USD/kW)
Efciency, EF (%)

0.08

q

3500

q

15

0.1

q

Smaller value is
better
Smaller value is
better
Higher value is
better
Smaller value is
better

FP

El guila 1
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo
Almonte Solar 2
Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo
Almonte Solar 3
Amanecer Solar CAP (P.F.
Llano de Llampos)
Proyecto Solar San Andrs
Tambo Real
Solar Andacollo (SDGx01)

XV
I

1.00
1.00

0.96
1.00

1.00
0.920

1.00
1.00

3.96
3.92

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

4.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

4.00

II
III
III

1.00
1.00
1.00

0.98
0.88
0.77

1.00
1.00
1.00

1.00
1.00
1.00

3.98
3.88
3.77

for El Aguila and Proyecto Solar Andres are very close to the
reference (See Table 12). For the Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo
Almonte Solar 2, CF is greater than the reference value (See
Table 11). El Aguila and Proyecto Solar Andres must improve
slightly CF to reach sustainability.
Tambo Real and Solar Andacollo (SDGx01) (Qs are 3.88 and
3.77 respectively) attain the reference indicators for land use, CO2
foot print and investment but not for capacity factor. It is the only
factor they must improve to be sustainable as shown in Table 12.
4.2. Sustainability of operational plants for heat production in Chile
For evaluating the solar thermal projects, we dened the following indicators: Land use LU in km2/kW, Investment INV in USD/
kW, the Efciency EF in %, and the CO2 foot print CO2FP in g eq
CO2/kW h. Also the values for the LU, CO2 FP, EF and INV reported
by Afgan and Carvalho [39] for solar-thermal plants were used.
The values are given in Table 13.
The q7 's were evaluated from Eqs. ((3) and 4), using the
indicators showed in Table 13 and the LU, INV, CO2FP and EF given
in Table 14. They are presented in Table 15. The CO2FP values for
these plants are not reported; therefore it was assumed that the
CO2 emissions could be 30 g CO2 eq/kW h. It was estimated based
on Burkhardt et al. [42]. To be considered a project sustainable all
q 7s have to be 1. It means the project to have lower or equal
investment, land use and CO2 foot print and higher or equal efciency than the sustainability references. To obtain Q, the q 7
values were replaced in Eq. (5). The Q values obtained are presented in According to the values determined for Q, (See Table 15),
the sustainable projects are the Planta Pampa Elvira Solar and
Planta CSP El Tesoro. They both have Q values of 4. This shows that
all q 7 's are 1, since both projects have lower land use, investment,
CO2 footprint, and higher efciency than the sustainability values
for solar thermal plants given in Table 13. The Planta Solar Pukar
de Hatur (Q3.69) although it meets the sustainability criteria for

CO2 Foot print,

CO2 FP (g eq
CO2/kW h)

land use, CO2 foot print and efciency, it does not for investment
(q  , INV 0.69).It is 1.9 times greater than the sustainability value,
because it is a small plant (nominal power of 0.06 MW) as can be
seen in Table 14. However, all of the reviewed plants are in the
relatively narrow range of Q between 3.69 and 4.00 so none of
these can be termed unsustainable, especially in comparison to
fossil-fuel based plants.

5. Conclusions
This paper presented a comprehensive review of the energy
supply and demand status and prospects in Chile and detailed data
on the 2300 MW of operational in a total of 10,000 MW of proposed solar projects. It is projected that by 2020 the current
electricity demand would increase by 33% to 90,072 GW h, of
which 7566 MW must be contributed from NCRE sources. Without
considering non-solar NCRE technology projects, and taking into
account a pessimistic scenario wherein more than a half of the
proposed solar projects could be operating before 2020. Solar
technology could cover a great part of the country's energy
requirements. This will allow Chilean energetic matrix to lower its
dependency on fuel oil, and diminish its carbon footprint due to a
reduction of GHG.
Most solar developments are located in northern regions,
specically concentrated in regions I, II, and III regions (more than
85%) where mining companies are operating. Based also on higher
radiation and the best climate conditions there, solar-energy
technology comprises the most promising source of electricity
and heat for mining companies located in northern regions,
allowing them to lower GHG emissions and therefore, their carbon
footprint.
The multi-criteria assessment proposed is useful for evaluating
the sustainability of solar PV and thermal plants. Based on this
method, the most sustainable PV plants are the Planta Solar
Fotovoltaica Pozo Almonte Solar 3 and Amanecer Solar CAP. Solar
San Andres, El Aguila and Planta Solar Fotovoltiaca Pozo Almonte

M. Grgeda et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 583596

595

Table 14
Land use, investment, capacity factor and CO2 foot print of the solar plants for producing heat in operation in Chile.
Name

Region

Efciency (%)

CO2 FP (g CO2 eq/kW h)

Investment (USD/kW h)

Land use106 (km2/kW)

Planta Solar Pukar de Hatur (Minera Constanza)

Planta Pampa Elvira Solar (Div. Gabriela Mistral - Codelco)
Planta CSP El Tesoro

II
II
II

49.5
39
41

30
30
30

6667
808
1500

6.7
2.8
5.5

Table 15
Memberships, q7 , and aggregative functions, Q, of the solar plants in operation for
producing heat in Chile.
Name

Region q  ,

LU

q ,EF q  ,

INV

q,

CO2 FP

Planta Solar Pukar de Hatur

II
(Minera Constanza)
Planta Pampa Elvira Solar (Div. II
Gabriela Mistral - Codelco)
Planta CSP El Tesoro
II

1.00

1.00

0.69

1.0

3.69

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.0

4.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.0

4.00

Solar 2 are very close to sustainability, but El Aguila and Proyecto

Solar Andres must increase slightly CF and the Planta Solar Fotovoltaica Pozo Almonte Solar 2 improve the INV to reach sustainability. Tambo Real and Solar Andacollo (SDGx01) must increase
the CF to be sustainable.
For solar thermal plants, the Planta Pampa Elvira Solar and the
Planta CSP El Tesoro are sustainable. The Planta Solar Pukar de
Hatur is less sustainable due to its highest investment per kW.
However, all the considered solar thermal plants fall within
accepted sustainability range for Land use, Investment, and
Capacity factor or Efciency (PV or thermal). Further research is
needed to quantify additional reductions in CO2 footprint and to
include the important water availability and transmission availability indicators in sustainability evaluations.

Acknowledgments
The main authors received support from project ANT1201
through the Performance Unit Agreement for Higher Education
and CONICYT/FONDAP N 15110019 SERC-Chile.

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