Chile’s 2GWh Dune Plus project shows how large-scale batteries, smart software and long-term PPAs can turn wasted solar into reliable green power for heavy industry.
Chile just committed 2GWh of new battery storage in the Atacama Desert – in the same year its solar curtailment grew by more energy than it added to the grid.
That contrast tells you everything about where green technology needs to go next. Building more renewables isn’t enough. You need smart storage, smart contracts, and smart control – increasingly powered by AI – or you’re just throwing clean electrons away.
The Dune Plus portfolio, a new joint venture between EDF and Chilean developer AME, is one of the clearest examples of what a serious, system-level approach looks like. And if you work in energy, mining, infrastructure, or climate-focused investing, it’s a blueprint worth studying closely.
This matters because what’s happening in Chile today is what many grids in North America, Europe, and the rest of Latin America will be wrestling with over the next 3–5 years: too much variable solar, not enough flexibility, rising curtailment, and pressure to decarbonize heavy industry fast.
Inside Dune Plus: 2GWh of storage built for a solar-heavy grid
The Dune Plus portfolio is a large-scale energy storage and solar-plus-storage development in Chile’s Antofagasta region, built specifically to fix a grid that’s overflowing with daytime solar.
Here’s what’s actually being built:
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Dune – a standalone battery energy storage system (BESS)
- 333.5MW power
- 4-hour duration
- 1,334MWh storage capacity
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La Pampina – a solar-plus-storage hybrid plant
- 186MWp solar PV
- 175.5MW BESS
- 4-hour duration
- 702MWh storage capacity
Together, Dune Plus delivers 509MW / 2,036MWh of battery storage across 186 hectares, supported by around 150 transformers.
This is not a pilot or a demonstration. It’s fully financed under a non-recourse project finance structure with backing from major international banks. A separate VAT loan covers tax cash flow. That combination – big capacity, firm financing, long-term offtake – is exactly what makes this project a serious reference case for green technology at utility scale.
Why Chile needs large-scale batteries now, not later
Chile’s Atacama region has some of the highest solar irradiation levels on Earth. That’s great if you’re developing PV – and a problem if your grid, transmission, and market rules haven’t caught up.
ACERA, Chile’s renewable and storage association, highlighted a stark number for 2024:
- New solar added to the grid: 2.2TWh
- Increase in solar curtailment: 2.7TWh
So the country added more clean solar…and wasted even more of it. That’s exactly the kind of thing that makes policymakers nervous and investors frustrated.
Chile’s response has been blunt and, frankly, refreshing: build storage fast.
- Policy target: 2GW of BESS by 2030
- Reality: expected to surpass that by January 2026
- Long-term target: 6GW by 2050, now expected around 2027
Most of this battery capacity is in the 4–5 hour duration range, explicitly designed for energy shifting, not just frequency regulation. In other words, Chile is building batteries to:
- Absorb midday solar that would otherwise be curtailed
- Discharge into the evening peak when demand spikes
- Provide system stability services as a bonus, not the main revenue driver
The Dune Plus portfolio fits that strategy almost perfectly: high-duration batteries paired with desert solar, right where curtailment and mining demand are both intense.
Green energy for heavy industry: the Codelco PPA
The smartest part of Dune Plus might not be the batteries. It might be the contract behind them.
Generadora Metropolitano (the EDF–AME JV) signed a 15‑year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Codelco, Chile’s state-owned copper mining giant. Starting January 2026, the Dune Plus assets will supply 1,000GWh of 100% renewable electricity per year to Codelco’s mining operations.
A few key points here:
- Codelco’s strategy: It has already awarded more than 3,000GWh per year of renewables contracts and aims for 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
- Mining context: The Antofagasta region is one of the world’s most important hubs for copper and lithium production. These are exactly the materials feeding electric vehicles, batteries, and grid hardware worldwide.
- Reputation and supply chains: Global buyers want low‑carbon copper and lithium. Long-term green PPAs are becoming a competitive necessity, not a PR add-on.
For buyers like Codelco, a solar-plus-storage PPA in a solar-heavy region offers three big advantages:
- Real decarbonization – Not “offsets”, but direct delivery of renewable MWh into operations.
- Price visibility – Long-term PPAs stabilize electricity costs in a sector where power bills can destroy margins.
- ESG credibility – Auditable, contracted flows of renewable energy, backed by hard infrastructure instead of soft claims.
For developers and investors, long-term PPAs with large industrials are the backbone of bankable green technology projects. The Dune Plus PPA is exactly the kind of offtake structure other regions should be copying.
How AI and software make large BESS projects work
On paper, a 4‑hour, 2GWh battery looks simple: charge when solar is cheap, discharge when demand is high. In practice, doing this profitably and reliably needs serious intelligence.
That’s where green technology and AI intersect.
For projects like Dune Plus, value comes from squeezing every bit of performance out of hardware that’s already capital-intensive. The tools that make that possible sit in software:
1. Intelligent dispatch and forecasting
AI-driven forecasting models can:
- Predict solar output at 5–15 minute granularity using weather and historical data
- Anticipate demand peaks and price movements
- Plan charge/discharge cycles to maximize both revenue and curtailment reduction
In high-curtailment grids like northern Chile, these tools help answer questions such as:
- “When should we over‑charge to reduce local curtailment risk?”
- “Which hours will transmission congestion spike?”
- “How much capacity should we reserve for ancillary services?”
2. Battery health and lifetime optimization
For a 2GWh system, battery degradation is a multi‑million‑dollar issue. AI-based asset management can:
- Track cell degradation patterns across thousands of racks
- Recommend operating windows (state of charge, C‑rates, temperature) that extend life
- Suggest dispatch profiles that balance immediate revenue against long-term asset value
I’ve seen operators increase usable lifetime by 10–20% just by tightening thermal management and charge window policies based on model insights.
3. Portfolio and grid integration
Chile isn’t building one battery at a time. It’s building a national fleet of BESS.
Coordinating that fleet demands platforms that can:
- Aggregate multiple assets to act as a single “virtual power plant”
- Coordinate with transmission operators to relieve congestion
- Offer multiple services – energy shifting, reserve, inertia products – from the same physical system
The reality? Hardware like Dune Plus is the visible part of green technology. The invisible layer – AI, optimization software, digital twins – is what will separate mediocre returns from strong ones.
For companies entering this space, underinvesting in software is the fastest way to turn a landmark asset into an underperforming one.
What businesses can learn from Dune Plus
You don’t have to be EDF or a mining giant to borrow ideas from Chile’s approach. Whether you’re a developer, corporate energy buyer, or climate tech startup, there are some clear, practical lessons here.
1. Treat storage as infrastructure, not a sidekick
Most companies still treat batteries as an add‑on to solar. Chile treats storage as core grid infrastructure.
For project developers and investors, that means:
- Target 4+ hour duration when you’re solving curtailment and peak issues
- Design projects around system needs (e.g., evening peaks, mining loads), not just feed-in-tariffs
- Model full revenue stacks – energy shifting, capacity, ancillary services – instead of a single income stream
2. Pair long-term PPAs with flexible operations
The Codelco PPA is a clear signal: heavy industry wants long-term, traceable green power.
If you’re on the offtaker side:
- Lock in multi‑year contracts with clear renewable sourcing
- Ask for time‑of‑use matching, not just annual MWh totals
- Push suppliers to include storage so you’re covered during peak and low-sun hours
If you’re on the supply side:
- Build storage into your PPA offer from day one
- Use AI tools to model how different contract structures (fixed price, floor + upside) affect dispatch and battery life
3. Put projects where they fix real problems
Dune Plus sits exactly where three things overlap:
- Extreme solar resource
- High curtailment
- Large, round‑the‑clock industrial demand
That’s not an accident. It’s smart siting.
When you’re planning green infrastructure, ask:
- “What concrete system problem does this project solve?”
- “Who benefits the most from that problem going away – and will they sign a contract?”
- “Can AI or analytics prove the system impact in a way financiers trust?”
Projects that answer those questions clearly will find capital, even in tighter markets.
What Chile tells us about the next wave of green technology
Chile is effectively stress-testing the future of clean energy: a grid flooded with solar, backed by high-duration storage, powering emissions-heavy industries.
The lesson from Dune Plus is pretty direct: green technology only scales when hardware, finance, software, and offtake strategy move together. Build any of those in isolation and you hit a wall.
For our Green Technology series, Chile’s story connects a few of the core themes we keep coming back to:
- AI isn’t a buzzword add‑on; it’s how you make renewables and storage profitable at scale.
- Industrial decarbonization is shifting from “offsets and certificates” to hard infrastructure plus smart contracts.
- Regions that embrace storage early don’t just fix their curtailment problem; they create a platform for new business models and cleaner supply chains.
If your organization is planning large renewable builds, negotiating PPAs, or exploring grid-scale batteries, this is the moment to move from pilot thinking to system thinking. Look at where your “Atacama” is – the place where you’re rich in potential but constrained by your grid or operations – and ask how storage, AI, and structured offtake could turn that into a long-term advantage.
Because the next wave of green technology won’t be won by whoever installs the most panels. It’ll be won by the teams that know how to store, schedule, and sell every clean electron they produce.