[Vision2020] Chile's Solar Power Boom; Solar/Wind Runs Most of Metro System

Sat Jun 4 22:11:45 PDT 2016

Mr Crabtree-- the Heritage Foundation ranks Chile 7th in the world for
economic freedom (2016). The US is ranked 11th.
http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking

Ron Force
Moscow Idaho USA

On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 8:11 PM, g crabtree <direoutcome at gmail.com> wrote:

> Golly, and premium gasoline is practically free in Venezuela. (under a
> nickel a gallon) Once Chile's new socialist president has had a few years
> to enact her progressive policies, the people of South Americas most stable
> and prosperous nation might be lucky enough to partake of the pleasures the
> Venezuelan populace is becoming accustomed to. (toilet paper and food are
> rather bourgeoisie after all)
>
> g
>
> On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 12:43 PM, Nicholas Gier <ngier006 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Here is what Latin America' Best Socialist Government is Doing. nfgChile
>> Producing So Much Solar Energy It’s Giving Electricity Away for Free
>> By Lorraine Chow
>> <http://www.nationofchange.org/news/author/lorraine-chow/>
>>
>>
>> http://www.nationofchange.org/news/2016/06/03/chile-producing-much-solar-energy-giving-electricity-away-free/
>>
>> Thanks to Chile’s major investments
>> <http://ecowatch.com/2016/05/31/santiago-metro-system-solar-wind/> in
>> renewables <http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/>, the Latin
>> American country is seeing an incredible solar
>> <http://ecowatch.com/?s=solar> boom.
>>
>> In a new Bloomberg report
>> <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-01/chile-has-so-much-solar-energy-it-s-giving-it-away-for-free>,
>> *Chile Has So Much Solar Energy It’s Giving It Away for Free*, solar
>> capacity from the country’s central grid has increased four fold to 770
>> megawatts since 2013. Another 1.4 gigawatts will be added this year with
>> many solar power projects under development
>> <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-10/acciona-invests-343-million-in-247-megawatt-solar-farm-in-chile>
>> .
>>
>> Thanks to an economic boost from increased mining production, Chile
>> now has 29 solar farms and another 15 in the pipeline. Enel Green Power
>> Chile Ltda. recently commissioned Chile’s largest solar PV project
>> <http://cleantechnica.com/2016/06/01/enel-commissions-largest-pv-solar-project-chile/>
>> connected to the grid. The 160-megawatt facility will be located in the
>> northern part of the country in the municipality of María Elena,
>> about 1,300 kilometers north of Santiago.
>>
>> With so much clean power available, the price of solar has
>> cost absolutely nothing for certain regions in recent months. As
>> Bloomberg stated:
>>
>> Spot prices reached zero in parts of the country on 113 days through
>> April, a number that’s on track to beat last year’s total of 192 days,
>> according to Chile’s central grid operator.
>>
>> However, the article points out that Chile’s rapid solar expansion isn’t
>> all good news. Due to the nation’s bifurcated power grid, the central and
>> northern grids are not connected.
>>
>> PV Insider
>> <http://analysis.pv-insider.com/chiles-solar-boom-poses-new-integration-challenges-developers> noted
>> that most of the demand is in the central grid, yet the best solar resource
>> in the country resides in the Atacama desert in the north. The northern
>> grid represents approximately 24 percent of installed capacity whereas the
>> central grid holds the majority of capacity at 74 percent of installed
>> megawatts.
>>
>> The northern grid is where solar prices are going to zero, Bloomberg
>> noted. Meanwhile, the main population centers in the south are not seeing
>> the same benefits.
>>
>> Chile, therefore, must invest in its transmission infrastructure in order
>> for the whole country to tap into the north’s glut solar power and
>> stabilize demand.
>>
>> “Chile has at least seven or eight points in the transmission lines that
>> are collapsed and blocked, and we have an enormous challenge to bypass the
>> choke points,” Energy Minister Maximo Pacheco told the publication. “When
>> you embark on a path of growth and development like the one we’ve had, you
>> obviously can see issues arising.”
>>
>> The good news is that the Chilean government is addressing the problem
>> with its planned 1,865-mile transmission line that will link the
>> two grids by 2017.
>> Santiago’s Metro System to Become World’s First to Be Powered Largely by
>> Solar and Wind
>> https://ecowatch.com/2016/05/31/santiago-metro-system-solar-wind/
>>
>> The subway system in Chile’s capital will soon be the world’s first to
>> run largely on renewable energy
>> <http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/> sources.
>>
>> The Metro de Santiago <http://www.metrosantiago.cl/>, the second-longest
>> metro system in Latin America after Mexico City, has signed two agreements,
>> one with a solar <http://ecowatch.com/?s=solar> energy provider and
>> another with a wind <http://ecowatch.com/?s=solar> power company,
>> which will provide 60 percent of metro’s energy needs by 2018.
>>
>> An announcement of the $500 million deal
>> <http://www.energias-renovables.com/articulo/santiago-energia-renovable-para-el-ferrocarril-metropolitano-20160523>
>> was made last week by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet during a visit to
>> the National Stadium station that’s currently under construction.
>>
>> “More than two and a half million passengers use the Metro daily,” she
>> said
>> <http://geographical.co.uk/places/cities/item/1707-santiago-transport-turning-renewable>.
>> “[They] will not only be able to travel faster and safer; they will also be
>> able to travel in a means of transport that cares for the planet, which
>> reduces our carbon footprint and that makes possible a sustainable future
>> for all.”
>>
>> California solar company SunPower, an affiliate of French oil company
>> Total, will begin construction of the El Pelícano Solar Project, a
>> 100-megawatt facility near the municipalities of La Higuera and Vallenar.
>> The solar plant, expected to go live by the end of 2017, will supply 300
>> gigawatt hours per year of clean energy to Metro de Santiago, or 42 percent
>> of its annual energy demands.
>>
>> “SunPower is proud to serve Metro of Santiago’s growing energy demand
>> with cost-competitive, renewable solar power,” Eduardo Medina, the
>> executive vice president of SunPower’s global power plants, said
>> <http://newsroom.sunpower.com/2016-05-23-The-Worlds-First-Metro-to-Run-on-Solar-Energy-Powered-by-Total-and-SunPower>.
>> “Solar is an ideal energy source for Chile because of the country’s high
>> solar resource and transparent energy policies. In partnership with Total,
>> SunPower is committed to the continued growth of our business in Chile.”
>>
>> As for wind power, the metro will receive 18 percent of its energy needs
>> from a 185-megawatt San Juan wind project
>> <http://www.power-technology.com/news/newsvestas-to-deliver-wind-turbines-for-185mw-san-juan-project-in-chile-4611515>
>> developed by Spain-based Elecnor and owned by Brazilian renewable energy
>> firm Latin America Power, according to Quartz
>> <http://qz.com/691078/santiagos-subway-system-will-soon-be-powered-mostly-by-solar-and-wind-energy/>
>> .
>>
>> Quartz noted that both solar and wind projects will start service in 2018
>> and supply the metro for the next 15 years. The metro will receive its
>> remaining 40 percent of its energy needs from the Chilean electric
>> distribution company Chilectra.
>>
>> The Natural Resources Defense Council noted
>> <https://www.nrdc.org/experts/maria-martinez/latin-america-green-news-climate-change-threatens-cabo-pulmos-corals> that the
>> amount of energy generated by the wind and solar projects for the metro
>> will be equivalent to the energy needs of 104,000 homes. Not only that, the
>> impressive initiative is expected to mitigate 130,000 tons of CO2 emissions
>> annually.
>> --
>>
>> A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they
>> shall never sit in.
>>
>> -Greek proverb
>>
>> “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.
>> Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance
>> from another. This immaturity is self- imposed when its cause lies not in
>> lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without
>> guidance from another. Sapere Aude! ‘Have courage to use your own
>> understand-ing!—that is the motto of enlightenment.
>>
>> --Immanuel Kant
>>
>>
>>
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