HIF and Enel Green Power start environmental assessment of South Lighthouse wind project

HIF Chile and Enel Green Power Chile (EGP) announced the submission of the Environmental Impact Study of the Faro del Sur wind farm project to the Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) of the Magallanes and Antarctic Region Chilean.

The project, which includes the installation of 65 state-of-the-art wind turbines, will have a capacity of 325 MW and will require an investment of US$500 million. In addition, it considers a 33 kV underground transmission line 12.1 kilometers long, which will allow the future eFuel plant that HIF Chile hopes to develop north of the Cabo Negro industrial zone, in Punta Arenas, to be fed with renewable energy.

In an unprecedented way in Latin America, Faro del Sur will consider a radar-assisted wind turbine arrest system. This equipment makes it possible to stop the rotation of the turbines in specific situations in the presence of birds and its use will allow the accumulation of information to feed the system and identify risk situations with increasing precision.

It is estimated that, counting on obtaining the Environmental Qualification Resolution, the wind farm construction will take about 24 months. This stage will generate an average of 310 jobs, with a peak of 600 jobs. Meanwhile, an average of 34 direct workers will be required in the operation phase.

César Norton, President of HIF Global, said, “This joint venture with EGP allows us to take a decisive step for the future of green hydrogen-based eFuels and, thereby, support our goal of advancing in the decarbonization of the planet. With the clean energy from Faro del Sur we will be able to power our first industrial-scale carbon-neutral fuel plant in Chile, whose environmental processing will begin in the coming months.”

Fernando Meza, Enel Green Power’s Renewable Business Development Manager, said, “We are building a look to the future, which will allow us as Enel and HIF to be able to decarbonize through green hydrogen those industries, economic sectors and also commercials that today we cannot reach with electricity.”