By Jason Deign on May
13, 2014
Solar
developers could benefit from a Chilean government tender for renewable energy in
the agricultural sector.
 |
The
tender aims to allow farmers to generate
some
of their consumption with clean energy,
without
being exposed to market price volatility.
|
PV could play a growing role in Chile
The
tender, issued by the Chilean Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture’s
Agricultural Innovation Foundation (Fundación para la Innovación Agraria
or FIA in Spanish), will see up to CLP$100m (around USD$178,000) offered for
each project.
Although
the tender is open to almost all ‘non-conventional’ renewable energy sources,
the maximum project funding level is expected to favour PV over more
capital-intensive technologies such as wind and concentrated solar
power (CSP).
The
Chilean government has specifically mentioned bio-digesters, solar dryers, wind
systems, geothermal heat pumps, biomass boilers and cogeneration systems, solar
thermal collectors, PV panels and mini run-of-river hydro as possible renewable
energy sources.
Funding
is dependent on eligible projects being developed, implemented and commissioned
by a single party within 18 months of signing a contract.
The
deadline for bids is June 26 and projects will need to be developed on existing
production systems, specifically to solve problems and increase their
productivity and financial efficiency.
Agriculture and forestry
“High
energy costs currently affect the competitiveness of all economic sectors,
especially agriculture and forestry, given that most are small and medium-sized
producers,” said the FIA’s executive director, Fernando Bas, in press comments.
“The
tender aims to allow farmers to generate some of their consumption with clean
energy, without being exposed to market price volatility.”
Solar
developers in Chile have cautiously welcomed the scheme. Nicolas Sadon,
managing director of Solairedirect Chile, says: “We consider this governmental
initiative as a good initiative as it promotes the use of renewable energies in
the agricultural sector, although it will not be of interest for us as it only
requires small systems.”
And Jorge Ortiz Lobo, technical project leader at San Felipe,
Valparaiso-based Solartec, adds: “I’m aware of the FIA’s renewable energy
tender and I think there is good potential to use solar PV for small projects,
under 100kW, pumping water from wells.
“However,
care needs to be taken with the high temperatures that Chile’s agricultural
valleys can reach in summer, since the increase in temperature of the PV panels
could considerably reduce their efficiency. For projects of more than 100kW,
CSP is more efficient.”
Considerable cost
In
the event, Solartec is working with the FIA on a
separate project to demonstrate the use of CSP to drive water pumps. The
figures released as part of the pilot scheme highlight the considerable energy
cost that many Chilean farmers face.
Traditional
pumping methods, based on diesel generation, can cost from USD$400,000 to $3.5m
per hectare a month.Conscious that this burden hampers the financial viability
of the sector, the FIA has for some time now been advocating the use of
alternative energy sources.
In
2012, for example, the FIA ran a seminar in Valparaiso Region, featuring
speakers from the University of California-Davis and the Solar Energy
Investigation Centre (Centro de Investigación de la Energía Solar ) in
Spain.
And
the current tender, which is part of a collaboration agreement between the
energy and agriculture ministries, follows a previous scheme to use PV as an
energy source for water pumps. That saw more than 1,000 panels being
distributed to farmers across the country.
In
a separate initiative, Fundación Chile, a national innovation body, has
embarked on PV-powered desalination projects in Valle de Lluta and at the
Salvador mine in the Atacama Desert.
PV-based
energy generation is even being promoted within agricultural education
establishments in Chile. The Duao Agricultural School, for example, has a PV
demonstration plant used to irrigate 10 hectares of onions.
Energy policy
Although
the primary interest of many farmers is to use spare land for solar energy
production that can be sold to the grid, the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) noted as far back as 2000 that PV could play a role in powering a range
of farming applications.
“PV
systems are also increasingly being used for agricultural applications,” noted
the FAO in a report titled ‘Solar photovoltaics for sustainable agriculture and
rural development’.
Some
of these applications, such as livestock watering and PV electric fences, are
already widely available commercially. Applications such as PV-powered drip
irrigation systems are finding increasing niche markets.
The
FIA report noted: “Interesting applications such as pest control, aeration
pumping for aquaculture, fish and poultry lighting have to be investigated
further.”
“The
motivation for incorporating and mass-using non-traditional renewable energies
in the agricultural and forestry sectors is related to the agricultural and
energy policies,” says the FIA on its web site.
“As
far as agricultural policy is concerned, the motive is linked to an objective
of turning the country into a food and agriculture heavyweight, putting Chile
among the top 10 food producers in the world.”
From
October to December 2012, more than 10,000 new jobs were created in
agriculture, suggesting that farming may be recovering its ability to generate
employment. The most successful regions were La Araucanía and Aysén, in
the south of Chile, according to local news reports. But if the Chilean economy
continues to grow in its current direction, the sector will suffer and with job
losses. Agricultural Minister Luis Mayol said in a report in 2013 that in an
economy where mining and business can pay more, it is natural that agriculture,
which is not in a position to offer the same rates, should suffer some losses.
To
maintain this growth in employment, the industry must pay its workers more. Many
areas are unable to do so, turning instead to increasing automation to fill the
absence of people working the land, said a local news report. This could call
for more PV products to help with less manpower.
Chile’s
moves to incorporate PV into farming come amid a growing appreciation of the
potential of solar power in agriculture and keeping farming a sustainable and
profitable business to be in.
Develop truly
cost-competitive CSP and PV projects that win PPAs in Chile
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario