AES Andes, a unit of US-based AES Corp., has switched on the largest solar plant connected to battery energy storage in Latin America.

The 180 MW Andes Solar IIb solar project is connected to a 112 MWh lithium battery with five hours of storage capacity. Battery manufacturer Fluence provided the storage systems for the project.

AES installed a 10 MW unit of the plant with its Maverick 5B pre-assembled panel technology, based on prefabricated modular structures that allow the installation of the panels in a third of the time compared to conventional solar systems and using half of their surface area.

The plant is located 230 km east of Antofagasta, in the Atacama Desert, and is part of a solar hub developed by AES Chile in the region. Including the Andes Solar IIb plant, AES currently operates 429 MW of PV in the Antofagasta region.

This year, AES completed the 379 MW Cristales photovoltaic project in the Salar Imilac sector, close to the company’s Andes Solar hub.