Chile on Tuesday inaugurated Latin America’s first-ever solar thermal energy plant, a vast complex dubbed Cerro Dominador in the Atacama desert. In an area exceeding 700 hectares, 10,600 mirrors surround a 250-meter-high tower topped with a receiver onto which the Sun’s rays are reflected. Molten salts in the receiver absorb the heat and are then used to generate electricity – up to 110 megawatts – by means of a steam turbine. Combined with an adjacent photovoltaic plant, the Cerro Dominador complex is capable of producing 210 megawatts of renewable energy. A feature of the project is that the salts can store energy for up to 17.5 hours, allowing the system to continue operating without direct sunlight, and for 24 hours per day, its operators say.
— source telesurenglish.net | 9 Jun 2021
