Climate action and solar energy development programme in the Tarapacá Region in Chile

The interim evaluation of the Atacama Solar project in Chile's Tarapacá Region shows significant progress in constructing a 150 MW photovoltaic plant and a 45.5 km transmission line, with overall project advance at 89.8% as of October 2020. The project has improved financial efficiency, reducing total costs by 32% to USD 180 million and lowering the GCF mitigation impact cost to USD 9.90/tCO2. While stakeholder engagement and gender mainstreaming plans are active, the report notes delays in the project cycle and insufficient communication between the Executing Entity and national authorities. The project is aligned with Chile's goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and its target of 20% non-conventional renewable power generation by 2025.

• As of October 12, 2020, the construction of the solar PV plant reached 99.7% progress, while the interconnection facilities were at 88.67%, resulting in an overall project advance of 89.8%.
• The project's total costs decreased by 32%, from an initial estimate of USD 265 million in 2016 to USD 180 million during implementation, primarily due to lower panel costs.
• The project's abatement cost improved by 36%, decreasing from USD 71.67/tCO2 in the Funding Proposal to USD 45.7/tCO2 in the 2019 Annual Performance Report.
• The mitigation impact for the GCF improved by 25%, falling from USD 13.25/tCO2 in 2016 to USD 9.90/tCO2 at financial closure.
• To mitigate spot market and energy volume risks, Atacama Solar S.A. secured 23 PPAs in a public auction (220 GWh/year) and a private PPA with Collahuasi mining Company (150 GWh/year), covering 78.7% of expected annual generation.
• The project is aligned with Chile's national commitment to achieve 20% non-conventional renewable power generation by 2025 and its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
• Gender targets for hiring were partially met; female staff reached 17% during the construction peak but ranged between 7% and 12% during other periods, partly due to low availability of women in nearby towns.
• Procurement from women-owned enterprises exceeded the 40% target, with 53% of the amount purchased from June 2019 to April 2020 being appointed to women-owned companies.
• The project's estimated annual emissions reduction was adjusted in the 2019 Annual Performance Report to 196,930 tCO2eq/year, totaling 3,938,600 tCO2eq over a 20-year lifespan.
• Delays in project approval and contractual arrangements affected the initial schedule, leading the evaluation team to recommend streamlining the GCF evaluation and approval process.
• The project's use of a '0 denounces' target for sexual harassment and discrimination was flagged as potentially promoting adverse bias by discouraging the actual registration of cases.

APA

Green Climate Fund (2021). Climate action and solar energy development programme in the Tarapacá Region in Chile. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp017-interim-evaluation-report-pub.pdf

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. Climate action and solar energy development programme in the Tarapacá Region in Chile. 2021. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp017-interim-evaluation-report-pub.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Climate Fund |title=Climate action and solar energy development programme in the Tarapacá Region in Chile |date=February 2021 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp017-interim-evaluation-report-pub.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenclimatefund2021climate, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{Climate action and solar energy development programme in the Tarapacá Region in Chile}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2021}, month = feb, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp017-interim-evaluation-report-pub.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }