Solar power plant in Arica y Parinacota, Chile. Approximate location -18.886, -70.113.
SolarArica y ParinacotaChilePV
Pampa Camarones 1 is a 6 MW solar power plant in Arica y Parinacota, Chile. It is operated by ENGIE SA [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 2.6k homes (estimated). It ranks #258 of 336 Chile power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2014, it is around 12 years old — relatively modern. 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 WKS0063023.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000807997); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 6 MW, Pampa Camarones 1 is below the median solar plant in Chile (40 MW). Technically it is described as PV. 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).
Operated by ENGIE SA [100%].
This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 18.9°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 71% 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: 23/100 — 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 #70 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 -18.886, -70.113 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Pampa Camarones 1 is a 6 MW source-record solar power plant in Arica y Parinacota, Chile, commissioned in 2014.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 2,552 homes (estimated).
Pampa Camarones 1 is operated by ENGIE SA [100%].
