Chile - Pacific Hydro gets permit to build first wind farm

The wind power project, dubbed Punta Sierra, will be developed in the Coquimbo region with an installed capacity of 108 MW and will produce nearly 310 GWh a year. Currently, Pacific Hydro operates five hydropower plants in Chile.

The company will launch a tender for civil construction works and power installations in the first months of 2013 and then it will seek offers for the turbines. Construction is expected to start in late 2013, while the first turbines will inject electricity to the network in late 2014. The facility will be completed in early 2015.

Initially, Pacific Hydro plans to sell the electricity on the spot market but it is also open to offers from the mining sector.