SunEdison and Antofagasta Minerals’ Los Pelambres mine have reached an agreement for the long-term sale of power to the mine. Under the agreement SunEdison will supply the power produced by the Javiera solar photovoltaic project, with a capacity of 69.5 MW DC, for operations at Los Pelambres mine. SunEdison says this “demonstrates the competitiveness of solar energy in Chile, especially in the Chilean mining and industry market, where SunEdison has innovated to deliver cost savings by transforming how energy is generated.”
Jose Perez, President of SunEdison for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, said: “An agreement is being signed between two global industry leading companies that believe in a more sustainable future for Chile. This landmark project reinforces SunEdison’s ability to offer competitive, innovative and sustainable energy solutions to its customers and reaffirms SunEdison’s leading role in Latin America.”
Los Pelambres general manager Robert Mayne-Nicholls said: “The initiative is in line with our goal to increase sustainability in our power supply mix at competitive prices. When operations began in 2000, we incorporated an energy generation mechanism into our conveyor belts, and as of this year, wind energy contracts. In the near-term, through 2015, we’ll incorporate solar photovoltaic energy and more than 30% of our energy supply will be realised through renewable projects. In the medium-term we will add run-of-the-river hydro-electricity and become a leading mining company in the use of clean sources of energy.”
The Javiera power plant, located in the Atacama Region, is already under construction and is expected to be connected to the grid in the first months of 2015. The project will deliver all its electricity to the Central Interconnected System (SIC) and will supply Los Pelambres, a copper/molybdenum mine located in the Coquimbo Region.
SunEdison is a global leader in transforming how energy is generated, distributed and owned. SunEdison manufactures solar technology and develops, finances, installs and operates distributed solar power plants, delivering predictably priced electricity and services to its residential, commercial, government and utility customers. SunEdison also provides 24/7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services for hundreds of solar systems worldwide via the company’s Renewable Operation Center (ROC).
Antofagasta Minerals is the largest privately held mining group in Chile. In 2013, it produced 721,200 t of copper in concentrate and cathodes, making it the fourth largest copper producer in Chile and ninth in the world. Last year, it also produced 9,000 t of molybdenum concentrate and 293,800 oz of gold.
