Chile advances industrial solar deployment with 2.99 MWp self-consumption plant and Antarctic renewable pilot

Cristalerías de Chile and Solarity inaugurated a 2.99 MWp photovoltaic self-consumption plant at the company’s glass container manufacturing facility in Padre Hurtado, Metropolitan Region. The installation comprises 4,752 solar panels designed to supply a portion of the industrial complex’s electricity demand. Solarity developed the project under a power purchase agreement model, financing, designing, constructing and operating the system while Cristalchile pays for consumed energy under long-term contract terms. The glass manufacturer has committed substantial capital to modernizing the Padre Hurtado site, previously announcing a 70 million dollar investment covering furnace renewal, new production lines, inspection and packaging systems, and energy efficiency improvements. The company operates two industrial plants in Chile, with the second located in Llay Llay.

In parallel, the German agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit validated a renewable energy and hydrogen pilot at the Profesor Julio Escudero Antarctic base on King George Island, operated by the Chilean Antarctic Institute. The initiative, co-financed by the European Union and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy under the Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen Development project, tests hybrid energy solutions in extreme operational conditions. Preliminary feasibility studies evaluated a 27 kW monocrystalline solar array using 500 W panels, requiring approximately 54 modules to generate an estimated 66 kWh daily and 11,880 kWh per semester. The conceptual design includes an electrolyzer producing 1 kg of hydrogen daily with 2.4 to 5 kW consumption, gas storage capacity of 5 kg at 30 to 40 bar pressure, and 30 kW PEM fuel cells providing two hours of monthly backup power to the base laboratory. Estimated capital costs total 35,436 dollars for the electrolyzer, 34,128 dollars for hydrogen storage, 142,605 dollars for fuel cells, and 4,814 dollars for the inverter. The project aims to reduce fossil fuel dependence in Antarctic infrastructure while generating applicable knowledge for other remote, logistically constrained territories. The Regional Government of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica and INACH support the implementation, which builds on technical and economic viability studies conducted in 2022 and 2023.