Chile's Codelco renews solar heat off-take contract with Innergex

Chilean state-owned copper miner Codelco said on Monday it had renewed a contract with Canada’s Innergex Renewable Energy Inc (TSE:INE) to continue using solar heat to recover copper at its Gabriela Mistral Division mine in northern Chile.

Innergex owns a 55% stake in the 34-MW Pampa Elvira solar thermal plant, which has been supplying heat to Gabriela Mistral Division since 2013. Codelco uses solar thermal energy in the process known as copper electrowinning to replace diesel consumption in water heating boilers, the miner said.

The new contract came into force on April 1, 2023. It will run until December 31, 2032.

"This clean energy project allows us to avoid the emission of 15,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, while at the same time achieving savings of more than USD 2 million per year", said Mauricio Acuna, Codelco's vice-president of procurement.

Pampa Elvira produces heat through solar thermal collectors located on Gabriela Mistral Division’s land in the Antofagasta region. The plant is said to be capable of generating more than 40,000 MWh of thermal energy per year, enabling the mining company to replace around 60% of fossil fuels used in electrowinning.

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