COP26: Chile will Double its Energy Storage Capacity together with AES
- -Thanks to AES Andes’ investments, the country will have 1563 MWh of energy storage capacity, 25 more than the existing capacity: a step forward to accelerate the energy transition.
Glasgow, November 5, 2021.- In line with their carbon neutrality goal, Chile and AES have joined forces to accelerate the country’s energy transition by increasing battery-based energy storage capacity.
As part of the company’s participation in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference - known as COP26 - which is being held in Glasgow, the Chilean Minister of Mining and Energy, Juan Carlos Jobet, together with the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating and Infrastructure Officer, Bernerd Da Santos, announced a plan to expand this energy storage technology, adding 188 MW to those under construction to reach over 300 MW by 2023.
With this, the country will be able to store and deliver up to 1563 MWh of energy per day to the system, which means avoiding more than 200000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. This is equivalent to taking over 80,000 privately-owned vehicles off the streets of Chile.
The announcement is part of AES’s global implementation of this technology as a fundamental pillar for the integration of renewable energy and the decarbonization of the energy sector.
These investments are in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 and 13, which aim to expand infrastructure, improve technology for sustainable energy and address the effects of climate change.
The Minister of Energy and Mining, Juan Carlos Jobet, said that “at this COP26 we have addressed the urgent need to achieve the goals we have as a planet. And for Chile, this announcement is a big step towards what we have proposed in our National Energy Policy so that we can have at least 2000 MW in storage systems by 2030. Because, let’s be clear, given the growing need for flexibility in the electrical system, we need batteries, or liquid air systems, and all kinds of storage technologies to integrate renewable sources and make sure that clean energy can be available anytime and for all households in Chile.”
Meanwhile, Bernerd Da Santos, highlighted that “AES has been a pioneer in the world in installing battery-powered storage systems, bringing the first of its kind to Chile in 2009.”
Da Santos stressed that “the development of such technology is important, but joint work between the public and private sectors is key to generate a positive impact through innovation and collaboration and to make progress in responsible energy transitions, making it possible for countries to achieve the sustainable economic reactivation as they meet their decarbonization goals.”
In addition, Ricardo Falú, CEO of AES Andes, said that this announcement means an investment of over US$400 million for Chile in battery systems integrated into renewable energy initiatives, which entails the creation of about 900 jobs and helps to stimulate the productive activity of the communities close to these projects.
“With innovative and competitive energy solutions such as batteries, the country will have about 25 times its capacity to store energy with lithium batteries by 2023. This will allow to shift to thermal generation in times when the availability of renewable energy is lower, contributing to the decarbonization of Chile’s electric matrix and productive sectors,” he said.
The Chilean government’s leadership, vision and commitment to the transition to renewable energy, with the will and investment of the private sector, in this case AES, are necessary to meet the goals set during the Paris Agreement in 2015 and establish new emission reduction targets.
Greentegra
The initiative announced today is consistent with the Greentegra strategy that AES Andes has been pursuing since May 2018 to accelerate a safer and more sustainable energy future. Since then, the company has entered into renewable source agreements for 10.5 TWh annually, while, in terms of capacity, it has integrated 305 MW of renewable generation and batteries into its portfolio and currently has 1114 MW under construction. In this way, by 2025 it will have increased its installed capacity of renewable energy and batteries by 173%, incorporating a total of 2.4 GW in addition to its portfolio. This is a contribution to the sustainable reactivation through investments of almost US$3 billion, which will generate more than 7,000 direct jobs on the markets where it operates.