Technology mix for the Diego de Almagro solar technology district in Chile

This paper focuses on the technology mix proposed for the Diego de Almagro “Solar Technology District” (DTS), intended to be built at the south of the Atacama Desert in Chile, which combines Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) with Photovoltaic (PV) plants to take advantage of both systems attributes: easy installation and low levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of PV and dispatchability and low cost for storing energy of CSP. Thermal energy storage systems as well as batteries are considered. Local conditions such as solar irradiation, water cost and availability and energy demand profile in Chile are noteworthy and important to be discussed. The methodology followed to optimize the power plant configurations focused on minimizing the LCOE and also considered the available land and the water consumption. Additionally, a rather new PV technology was investigated and selected for the solar park: Bifacial PV modules. The results obtained are useful to project developers seeking for combinations of PV and CSP to satisfy specific electricity demand in an economic, clean and reliable way.