The Atacama desert in Chile is known as the driest place in the world. Moreover, some places have never received rain at all.

Thanks to these specific conditions, it was decided to use the power of the sun in an unusual way to produce electricity.
 

The project consisted in the realisation of a solar power plant, made of a 200 meter concrete tower that should support a steel structure of 2,000 tons including mirrors and salt tanks.

How does this solar plant work ? The rays of the sun are reflected by sensors located on the ground towards receiver mirrors located at the top of the tower. This radiator heats a saline product used as a thermal energy storage system able to generate electricity for 15 hours without direct solar radiation.

The challenge of this project was also to pay attention to the high seismic risk existing in that region. This is in these specific conditions that SECO International was involved in this project.