Grenergy adds US$520 million solar park in María Elena

Pampa del Desierto combines 430 MW with batteries for seven hours. Construction is set to begin in 2029, with a workforce of up to 400.

Grenergy submitted a 520 million dollar solar photovoltaic park with battery storage to the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA) in the commune of María Elena, Antofagasta Region. The Pampa del Desierto Solar Photovoltaic Park features a nominal capacity of 430 MW, a battery system capable of delivering energy for seven hours, and a maximum workforce of 400 during construction, which is scheduled to start in March 2029.

The project was presented by GR Flor de Loto SpA through an Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) and is currently in the admission phase, the stage where the Environmental Evaluation Service (SEA) reviews whether the submission meets formal requirements before initiating the evaluation. According to the Spanish company’s consolidated financial statements for 2025, this entity is 100% owned by the Grenergy group.

The plant will have an installed capacity of 518.7 MWp — the maximum output of the panels under ideal radiation conditions — and will consist of 829,920 bifacial 625 Wp photovoltaic modules that capture light on both sides. The panels will be mounted on single-axis solar trackers, structures that rotate throughout the day to orient the modules toward the sun.

The heaviest component is the battery storage system, known as BESS for its English acronym, with a capacity of 430 MW and 3,010 MWh. This capacity equates to seven hours of storage, allowing part of the daytime generation to be stored and injected when there is no sunlight. The system will be composed of 632 battery containers and 79 transformer stations.

The electricity will be stepped up from 33 to 220 kV at the new Pampita Step-Up Substation and evacuated via a 220 kV high-voltage transmission line, 21.46 kilometers long with 66 structures, to the Kimal Substation, an existing facility owned by the Conexión Kimal-Lo Aguirre S.A. consortium. According to the company, the site selection for the solar park was determined by its proximity to that substation and its available electrical connection capacity, which "facilitates the technical and economic viability of the project."

The construction phase is expected to last 20 months. The project assumes an estimated useful life of 43.2 years and a total area of 850.67 hectares.

Pampa del Desierto is the second large-scale initiative that Grenergy has entered in the same commune in recent months. In August 2026, the company submitted the Antofagasta 1 Photovoltaic Park to the SEIA, with an investment of $593 million, an installed capacity of 516.92 MWp, and an energy storage system of 3,010 MWh, identical to that of the new project.

Both projects join Oasis de Atacama, the energy storage platform that the company presents as its flagship project in Chile. Together with Oasis Central, which extends that solar generation and battery model to the central region, they total 3.9 GW of solar capacity and 19.2 GWh of storage.

On October 9, Grenergy closed a $457 million financing for Algarrobal, the fifth phase of Oasis de Atacama, and for the Palmas cluster. It is the largest transaction in the company’s history and corresponds to non-recourse debt, a structure in which the loan is repaid with the cash flows of the projects themselves rather than with guarantees from the parent company. The transaction was coordinated and secured by BNP Paribas, with the participation of BBVA, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, MUFG Bank, Santander, and The Bank of Nova Scotia.

Algarrobal will feature 242 MW of solar capacity and 1,480 MWh of energy storage, and includes a 12-year power purchase agreement (PPA) that takes effect on January 1, 2028, signed with a buyer holding an investment-grade credit rating. Palmas comprises 21 small-scale distributed generation facilities (PMGD)—smaller solar plants connected to distribution grids—located in the northern and central regions of the country, all of which are currently operational; six of these facilities will incorporate five-hour battery storage. With this closing, the company has surpassed US$2.4 billion in non-recourse financing secured in Chile.

Regarding this closing, David Ruiz de Andrés, founder and CEO of Grenergy, stated that "it is a demonstration of the confidence of the international banking sector in the model we have developed in Chile and are now replicating in Europe," and that the transaction brings the company close to 40% of its project finance debt target under its 2026-2028 strategic plan. In an interview with Diario Financiero, published in September, he noted that the company has accumulated $2.8 billion in investments in Chile over 13 years and projects to deploy an additional $2 billion over the next three years. He added that Chile represents between 40% and 45% of the company's projected investments through 2028, and that Grenergy aims to rank among the top three foreign investors in Chile during that period.

Grenery was founded in 2007 by Ruiz de Andrés, who also serves as chairman of its board of directors and is its principal shareholder. The company has been listed on the Spanish stock exchange since 2015 and, in addition to Chile, operates in Peru, Mexico, Colombia, the United States, and several European countries.

At the current stage, the SEA must decide whether to accept Pampa del Desierto's DIA for processing. If it is accepted, the evaluation process will begin, during which the competent environmental agencies will review the project's documentation and may raise observations with the project holder.