Desert tower raises Chile's solar power ambition to new heights

clock •

Towering 200 metres above the desert, the Atacama 1 will harvest the sun's energy from a surrounding field of giant mirrors. But the completion of the $1.1bn project, the first of its kind in Latin America, has been thrown into doubt by the financial difficulties of its Spanish owner

Rising more than 200 metres above the vast, deserted plains of the Atacama desert, the second tallest building in Chile sits in such a remote location that it looks, from a distance, like the sanctuary...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Solar

'A year-round investment': Solar panels offering savings on winter energy bills, study finds

'A year-round investment': Solar panels offering savings on winter energy bills, study finds

Data from Good Energy challenges 'misconception' solar panels only offer savings during the summer with evidence almost a third of generation takes place in winter months

clock 05 November 2026 • 3 min read
'UK's largest' cathedral solar panel project to launch in Winchester

'UK's largest' cathedral solar panel project to launch in Winchester

Loganair backs installation of 243 solar panels across Cathedral estate through its GreenSkies Community Fund

Stuart Stone
clock 02 November 2026 • 3 min read
Refresco to install 'UK's largest' commercial solar rooftop array in Somerset

Refresco to install 'UK's largest' commercial solar rooftop array in Somerset

Multi-site solar programme includes an 8.5MW array on the drinks bottler's Somerset manufacturing site which it expects to be the largest of its kind in the UK once complete

clock 29 October 2026 • 3 min read