Correction: Chile-Floating Solar Island story
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — In a story March 15 about a floating island of solar panels in Chile, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the array is 1,200 square feet. The array is 1,200 square meters.
A corrected version of the story is below:
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A floating island of solar panels is being tested in Chile as a way to generate clean energy and reduce water loss at mine operations, a cornerstone of the Andean country's economy that uses huge amounts of electricity and water.
The experimental "Las Tortolas" power-generating island is being run by the giant Anglo American mining company at its Los Bronces mine, and the initiative comes as the government pushes to put Chile at the forefront of renewable energy use in Latin America and the world.
The 1,200-square-meter (12,917-square-foot) array of solar panels was inaugurated Thursday by Chilean Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica. Officials said that if the test is successful, the $250,000 plant could be expanded to cover 40 hectares, or nearly 100 acres.
The array floats in the middle of a pond that is used to contain the refuse from mining, known as tailings, and it is expected that its shadow will lower the water temperature and reduce evaporation by 80 percent. Thus, the mine would retain more of that water for its operations and could reduce the amount of fresh water it pumps in the dry mountainous region where water is a scarce commodity.
"With this system, we can make our fresh water consumption more efficient, in line with our goal of re-imagining mining and reducing Anglo American's fresh water consumption by 50 percent by 2030, as well as the CO2 emissions by producing non-polluting energy," said Patricio Chacana, Los Bronces' vice president of operations.
If the yearlong experiment...