Recent data from the National Electricity Coordinator (CEN) shows<\/a> the northern region of Antofagasta makes the highest demands on Chile\u2019s national electricity system, mostly due to being the world\u2019s most productive copper mining<\/a> region. But electricity demand is also growing rapidly in the central regions of Metropolitan Santiago and Valpara\u00edso. Here, major urban centres account for a large share of that consumption. As a result, renewable energy plans now abound in central Chile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2023, solar projects worth almost USD 2 billion<\/a> entered the environmental approval process in these two regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany solar plants have begun to be installed in central Chile for several reasons, but the most important is curtailment,\u201d says Jorge Leal, a partner at the solar power development firm LAS Energy<\/a>, and a specialist in renewable energy and the electricity market. \u201cThis phenomenon is mainly due to transmission restrictions from the north to the centre.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the municipality of Tiltil, 60 kilometres north of Santiago, several solar facilities have already entered operation. These include the Ovejer\u00eda<\/a> and El Litre<\/a> solar parks, both with an installed capacity of nine megawatts (MW), and the 99 MW El Manzano<\/a> solar plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are also several larger-scale projects planned in Tiltil, including the 200 MW Don Patricio Photovoltaic Park. The development will be operated by Pacific Hydro Chile, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned State Power Investment Corporation. Pacific Hydro has been active in Chile since 2002 and developed<\/a> multiple renewable energy projects, such as the 82 MW Punta Sierra wind farm, in the central region of Coquimbo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Patricio has been under review by Chile\u2019s environmental impact assessment regulator since 2024. This process has raised potential problems with the project \u2013 and communities that could be affected are paying attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Don Patricio project represents a USD 368 million<\/a> investment to install 269,832 solar modules. Its design also features a battery energy storage system (BESS) which, according to<\/a> Pacific Hydro, is essential for ensuring a more \u201cflexible and sustainable\u201d energy mix: the high-capacity batteries used in a BESS allow for \u201cthe optimisation of energy from renewable sources \u2026 delivering it when it is most needed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project incorporates 42 transformer stations, an electrical substation and a 1.17-kilometre transmission line. The energy generated will be fed into Chile\u2019s national electricity system (SEN), which means it will be consumed both locally and further afield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the environmental impact study<\/a> submitted to the Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) at the end of 2023, Don Patricio\u2019s construction area<\/a> will cover 226 hectares in Santa Matilde, an agricultural area of Tiltil. In addition to the panels, access roads, internal roads and a work site facility will be built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tiltil is a rural commune with a population of 19,742<\/a> recorded in 2024. The area combines small urban centres with scattered agricultural and industrial areas, where crops coexist with mining and other industrial projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the local authority itself, the commune faces a significant environmental burden of 49 pollution sources<\/a>, corresponding to various companies operating in the territory. These include landfills, pork production and olive processing, as well as mining, cement, and industrial waste works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tiltil also faces serious water problems. Research<\/a> by the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile\u2019s Institute of Urban and Territorial Studies ranked it among the Chilean municipalities to have issued the highest number of water shortage decrees. These are issued<\/a> by the General Directorate of Water (DGA) and designed to unlock emergency water extraction and delivery powers to aid rural populations for six months. In some areas of Tiltil, residents permanently depend<\/a> on lorries transporting water to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dialogue Earth spoke to Nicol\u00e1s Jofr\u00e9, a Tiltil resident and former spokesperson for the Movement for the Defence of Access to Water, Land and Environmental Protection (Modatima<\/a>). He claims that \u201cindustrial projects continue to be added to a territory that already has some of the most severe environmental damage in Chile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A study released this year by the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile detected<\/a> metal contamination in Santa Matilde and neighbouring Polpaico. The metals included arsenic, copper, chromium, manganese, lead, nickel and zinc, some of which pose cancer risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another Tiltil resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told Dialogue Earth that the majority of their neighbours were not in favour of any more industrial projects being established in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Modatima\u2019s Jofr\u00e9, solar projects, although clean in terms of electricity generation, do not alleviate local problems: \u201cWe consider it an abuse of the poor, an abuse of those who do not have the strength to raise their voices and defend themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the critical points of the environmental impact study is Don Patricio\u2019s likely impact on native forests. Pacific Hydro acknowledges<\/a> the felling of 1.1 hectares of \u201cnative forest\u201d and 0.6 hectares of \u201cnative preservation forest\u201d. This submission has been questioned by the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf), which reviews all baselines, impact assessments and mitigation or compensation measures for projects submitted to the Environmental Assessment Service. Conaf\u2019s forestry inspection and environmental assessment manager, Bernardo Mart\u00ednez, thinks these initial measurements \u201ccould be underestimated\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This situation could be due to a problem with stand identification \u2013 the methods used to describe the characteristics of forest and environmental resources \u2013 or because not all interventions and habitat alterations were correctly identified by the company, Mart\u00ednez tells Dialogue Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mart\u00ednez adds that the impacts are not limited to the vicinity of the project. He highlights concerns about potential photovoltaic heat islands<\/a>, as well as the changes in temperature, wind and humidity generated by large solar panel installations that \u201cthreaten vulnerable native species\u201d. He also mentions the \u201cedge effect\u201d, which refers to changes in light, humidity and temperature conditions in the transition zones between the forest and the solar park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the vegetation species that the impact study identifies as being affected are guayac\u00e1n (Porlieria chilensis<\/em>) and algarrobo (Prosopis chilensis<\/em>). These small trees are resistant to arid climates but require relatively stable habitats and sufficient water availability to survive. In a territory of water scarcity, Mart\u00ednez says \u201ctheir loss could have consequences for local biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dialogue Earth spoke to Flavia Liberona, executive director of the Terram Foundation, a Chilean civil society organisation dedicated to sustainable development. She says what is happening in Tiltil reflects a broader tension in the country: \u201cThe balance between energy transition, biodiversity protection and territorial justice remains one of the central challenges on Chile\u2019s environmental agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, Gonzalo Melej of the NGO Chile Sustentable tells Dialogue Earth the energy transition must be mindful of territorial planning, to avoid social conflicts and damaging the reputation of clean energy: \u201cWe are seeing how solar plants installed on agricultural land compete with food production, and other land uses, currently generating conflicts and a loss of social legitimacy for these clean electricity generation technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For now, the Don Patricio solar park remains under environmental assessment. Dialogue Earth reached to Pacific Hydro but the company didn\u2019t respond. However, in the project evaluation process file, it does respond <\/a>to some of the observations made by Conaf and other agencies<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company proposes the use of bischofite, a chemical compound that can be used to stabilise unpaved roads. This would serve as a mitigation measure against the spread of particulate matter, generated by increased vehicle traffic linked to the project and its construction. The file also proposes the installation of acoustic barriers to reduce noise impact, and biodiversity compensation measures through the planting of native species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Jofr\u00e9 is sceptical. Despite being surrounded by solar parks, the inhabitants of Tiltil continue to pay very high electricity rates. According to a January 2025 report<\/a>, the municipality had recorded a 94% increase in prices since June 2024. This steep rise marked the end of a national electricity rate freeze that was initiated<\/a> approximately five years ago. \u201cWe pay one of the highest electricity bills in Chile,\u201d Jofr\u00e9 points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSolar and storage at Don Patricio<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Solar arrives in \u2018sacrifice zone\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>The potential impacts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The balance between energy transition, biodiversity protection and territorial justice remains one of the central challenges on Chile\u2019s environmental agenda<\/blockquote>Flavia Liberona, executive director, Terram Foundation<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>The future of the project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n