In a statement, the Chilean government says that First Solar submitted plans last month for the proposed Parque Sol del Desierto and is seeking environmental authorization from the Energy Ministry’s renewable energy department (CER).

If approved, First Solar's project would almost triple Chile's current solar PV installed generation capacity of 184MW.

First Solar in June said it was close to finalizing a loan package for its 141MW (ac) Luz del Norte solar PV project, also in northern Chile.

Luz