Central Cardones
The Cardones thermal power plant began operations in 2009 and was acquired by International Power Services in December 2024. Connected to the Cardones substation south of Copiapó in the Atacama region, Cardones provides the people of Chile with 155 MW of reliable backup power every day.
PLANT OVERVIEW
The Cardones plant not only serves as a backup plant for the National Electric System (SEN), but also maintains the security of the northern region, which is one of the most important nodes of the SEN due to the interconnection of the former 500 kV Northern Interconnected System (SING) and Central Interconnected System (SIC).
- Commissioned on July 4, 2009, acquired by IPS Chile in 2024
- Diesel-fueled thermal plant coupled with solar panels
- 155 MW generation capacity
PLANT SPECIFICATIONS
Thermal
Located on a 3.43-hectare plot adjacent to the Cardones Substation, the thermal plant is connected to the SEN through the Cardones substation, where it connects to bus bar 1 of 220 kV.
It is comprised of:
- One Siemens SGT5-2000E gas turbine
- One 182 MVA Siemens SGen5-100A-2P generator
- Open cycle with diesel fuel, after a propane gas pilot light is ignited
Solar panels
The Cardones plant solar panels began operations on December 14, 2015, and are located within the thermal plant's facilities.
General specifications:
- Generation capacity of 437.6 kWp
- Composed of 1,460 Astronergy photovoltaic modules, grouped into four trackers
- Hosts a 500 kW Greenpower inverter
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