In October 2019, ACCIONA announced that state-owned water company ECONSSA Chile had awarded it the electricity supply for its seawater desalination plant in Caldera in the Atacama region. The long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) was to start in November 2019 and cover the plant's entire demand with wind and solar power. ECONSSA had been building the plant since early 2018; in three stages it was to grow from about 38,900 m³/d to about 103,700 m³/d and serve four municipalities. It was ACCIONA's sixth such deal in Chile.
The report showed that in Chile even a state-owned desalination plant aimed to meet its power demand through a long-term renewable energy contract and thereby lower operating costs.
Source: ACCIONA (Pressemitteilung)