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AES Corp to increase 2-fold battery storage capacity in South America

AES Corp smart grid Corporation

The AES Corp, a top US utility, announced this Friday during the COP26, the Climate Summit taking place in Glasgow, that it will more than double its battery storage capacity in South America. Particularly in Chile, where the company currently has 62MW of battery storage in operation and around 112MW under construction across several sites.

Firstly, the news comes as the company is under a bold expansion regarding renewable energy. Just this week, the company announced a long-term partnership with Microsoft to deliver clean energy to the tech giant’s data centers in Virginia.

Moreover, today’s announcement also brings the country closer to reaching at least 2GW of storage by 2030. According to Chile’s energy minister Juan Carlos Jobet, this is one of the goals of the outgoing administration’s proposed long-term national energy policy.

The Chilean official also said. “In the face of the growing need for flexibility in the electricity system, we need lithium-ion batteries; or liquid air batteries and all types of energy storage technologies to integrate renewable sources and ensure that clean energy can be available at any time and for all homes in Chile.

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AES Corp to leverage huge renewables potential in Chile

Indeed, battery energy storage is crucial to add renewable energy to the grid; as it compensates for solar and wind intermittency. It also reduces the need for burning coal, oil; or, diesel to spin the turbines of a generator when renewables are out.

Nevertheless, Chile has a tremendous for solar and wind energy indeed. In fact, the country already has 16pc solar and 10pc wind capacity; and another 3.2GW of solar and 950MW of wind projects under construction, according to the National Energy Commission (CNE). However, it could boost 80 times that capacity to meet its full theoretical potential.

Finally, Chile aims to leverage its giant potential surplus of renewables capacity. It intends to produce green hydrogen for domestic applications such as heavy transport and steel and for export. However, the outcome of such plans will be shaped by the upcoming elections in Chile, on November 21.

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