Statkraft, one of Europe’s largest renewable energy generators, will build its first wind farms in Chile, expanding its renewable energy generation capacity in the South American country amid an increasing demand for hydro, wind and solar power in the southernmost nation in the world.

Combined with the company’s existing hydropower assets, Statkraft will reach a generating capacity of 366 MW by the end of 2023. The 102 MW Torsa wind power project consists of three wind farms, totalling 19 wind turbines supplied by German manufacturer Nordex.

In total, the wind farms are expected to produce more than 300 GWh/yr of renewable energy; enough power to supply 100 000 average Chilean households. The project is located in the O’Higgins region, 124 km south of the country’s capital, Santiago.

“These three wind farms are not only expanding our generating capacity in Chile; it is broadening our renewable energy portfolio by including wind power for the first time. Going forward, we’re also planning to include solar power into our generation mix,” says Executive Vice President, International Power in Statkraft, Jürgen Tzschoppe.

“The South American nation is an attractive market for Statkraft and we want to capitalise on our combined expertise in power generation and market operations to best serve the market and provide energy to large industrial customers in the country,” he adds.

Construction will start during the second semester of 2021, and the first wind turbines are expected to start operation in October 2022. The project will utilise the Nordex N163/5.X wind turbine, the same type of turbines utilised in Statkraft’s ongoing Ventos de Santa Eugenia project (519 MW) in Brazil. With a diameter of 163 m, the rotors will cover an area equal to almost three standard football pitches.

Statkraft has been present in Chile since 2014 and the company now owns a production capacity of 209 MW, with an annual production of 747 GWh (2020).