Solar power plant in Atacama, Chile. Approximate location -27.35, -70.395.
SolarAtacamaChile
Cardones I is a 29 MW solar power plant in Atacama, Chile. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 12k homes (estimated). It ranks #162 of 336 Chile power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 25.1% of Chile's electricity; the national grid averages 289 gCO₂/kWh (66.4% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WKS0071653.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 29 MW, Cardones I is below the median solar plant in Chile (40 MW). Solar PV converts sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts or fuel; output varies by time of day and weather, so it pairs with storage or flexible backup.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 27.4°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 47% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 31/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 0.0% at warm-season highs here (estimate).
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with dust abrasion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #47 largest solar power plant of 77 in Chile by capacity.
Chile has 77 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 4,074 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -27.35, -70.395 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Cardones I is a 29 MW source-record solar power plant in Atacama, Chile.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 12,424 homes (estimated).
