In 2019, Hortifrut began to develop with Solarity, a company specializing in the delivery of clean energy, a photovoltaic project to power its fields and facilities promoting the use of renewable and more efficient energies. The project will be completed today with the inauguration of the eighth solar plant installed in Hortifrut fields, this time in the Agricola Mataquito's Santa Teresa field, in Region V. This will be the first floating photovoltaic plant to be connected to the electricity grid in Chile.
The initiative will supply 53% of the annual energy that the Santa Teresa field consumes while reducing CO₂ emissions to the environment. "This is the eighth active solar plant installed by Hortifrut Chile, as our goal is to replace at least 50% of the energy used in our fields and production plants," said Juan Ignacio Allende, Corporate General Manager of Hortifrut. Thus, the company maintains its commitment to the environment and communities, ensuring progress in the development and implementation of renewable energy in its operations throughout the country.
One of the benefits of the floating solar plant, when compared to conventional installations on the ground, is that it helps to reduce the evaporation of water from the tank, thus leading to water savings. Additionally, the efficiency of solar panels increases because the contact with water decreases their operating temperature. It allows better use of solar energy when space is limited.
"We will install a total of 18 solar plants that we expect will become operational during the first quarter of 2021," Allende stated.
For more information:
Hortifrut
Av. del Cóndor 600, 4.º floor.
Ciudad Empresarial, Huechuraba
Santiago, Chile.
Tel.: +56 2 2479 26 00
chile@hortifrut.com
www.hortifrut.com