Although partial continuous production of renewable energy sources is attractive, storing the generated energy in some way is also critical. In this context, we have seen that storage facility investments have increased in parallel with renewable energy investments in recent years. Now, Spanish renewable energy company Grenergy has started building the world’s largest energy storage facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert.World’s largest energy storage facility
Grenergy describes the 4.1 GWh ‘Oasis de Atacama’ energy storage project it has started to build as the largest in the world. The company said it will invest $1.4 billion in the project, which is expected to become operational gradually over the next 36 months. Grenergy did not specify what type of storage would be used for the project, which will also include a 1GW solar farm.
The Atacama Desert in the north of Chile is perhaps the most ideal location for such a project, as it is the driest land in the world and also has the highest solar radiation in the world. Grenergy CEO David Ruiz de Andres said, “Oasis de Atacama will be an iconic project for Grenergy and the entire renewable energy sector,” while supplying more than 8TWh of clean energy to a subsidiary of COPEC, one of the main fuel distribution companies in Chile. He said that he signed a 15-year electricity purchase agreement to provide
The project, which has the support of five international banks, also sells solar energy and storage projects together, making Grenergy one of the first companies in this field. The company also announced a plan to invest 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion) globally by 2026. The company aims to have 5GW of installed solar energy capacity and 4.1GWh of energy storage capacity by 2026.
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