AES Andes S A : Undersecretary of Energy visited Angamos power plant and known details of the Alba project of AES Andes

July 11, 2023

Mejillones, July 11,Alba, the project that AES Andes has in environmental processing and that seeks to convert the Angamos coal-fired thermoelectric plant to a large storage battery based on molten salts, continues to generate a lot of interest, both nationally and internationally.

This time it was the turn of the Undersecretary of Energy, Luis Felipe Ramos, who visited the Angamos Power Plant of AES Andes, which is located in Mejillones, to learn on the ground where the project would be located and its main characteristics.

Ramos attended accompanied by the Energy Seremi of the Antofagasta region, Dafne Pino, who were received by the head of the Environment of the northern complex of AES Andes, Jenny Tapia, the head of community relations, Sergio Bruna, and the head of operations of Central Angamos, Hugo Marín, who explained the decarbonization process that AES Andes is carrying out and the progress of its Greentegra transformational strategy.

Subsequently, Jenny Tapia spoke about the Alba project, which explores the possibility of replacing the current coal-fired generation of units 1 and 2 of the Angamos Thermoelectric Power Plant with a molten salt system.

The Undersecretary of Energy, Luis Felipe Ramos, indicated that "the Alba project is very interesting; it would be the first of its kind in the world and we hope that it can advance in a timely manner so that it is not only installed, but also the first of many projects that allow the conversion of thermoelectric plants to advance in our challenge of achieving carbon neutrality to 2050".

Meanwhile, the head of Environment of the northern complex of AES Andes, Jenny Tapia, indicated that the visit of the undersecretary is very important to publicize the scope of Alba, a pioneering project in the world that provides new possibilities for technological and labor reconversion. from a coal-fired plant that will soon stop operating.

Alba intends to use salts, which will be heated with electricity from renewable sources. These salts will be directed to the steam generator where they will exchange heat with the water, generating the necessary steam to reach a power of 560 MW with both units in operation.

The initiative will act as a large renewable energy storage system, by injecting energy at times of greatest consumption such as at night, which represents an excellent complement to solar and wind generation, plus the opportunity to offer inertia services and provide capacity flexible renewable.