Colbún Solar Energy Project Led By Women Installs Its Latest Photovoltaic Panel

The Machicura Photovoltaic Park stands next to the reservoir of the same name, in the Maule Region, and was developed by a group mainly of women who have led its construction. "There are many areas of the company that have been involved in the project, and in all of them there are women, all super empowered", says Pilar Cruz, leader responsible for the project.

Marking a milestone in its construction process, Colbún SA's “Machicura Photovoltaic Park” - built in the same place where the generator started its operation 35 years ago, in the commune of Colbún - installed its last solar panel out of a total of 21,924 that this project contemplates, in the Maule Region. And those who are doing it are women, in a project that has been led by the female gender. In this way, this initiative enters its last phase of development and is preparing to inject energy into the national electricity system, which is expected to occur in July, with its commissioning.

This project, which will have a total power of 9 MW and will generate a total of 21 GWh, -which is equivalent to the energy consumption of approximately 5,000 people-, is Colbún's first solar generation project in the Maule Region. Of the total number of people who led the construction of the project from Colbún, two thirds corresponded to women, both in project management and in construction on the ground.

“There are many areas of the company that have been involved in the project, in all these areas there are women, and all of them are super empowered. All of them are making the project go ahead and we can have a very good product, ”says Pilar Cruz, a civil engineer who is leading the construction of this solar park.

The works associated with this initiative began last February, in the midst of the difficult context that imposed the necessary sanitary measures to avoid contagion by Covid-19 in the field, through the implementation of a strict mandatory protocol for own workers / as and contractors.

And not only with health are women careful. “The company got a tremendous surprise. The women are in charge of the more logistical part in the field, and the screws are no longer lost and we are also ahead of the work in the works ”, comments Nancy Suárez, in charge of the Environment, Health and Occupational Safety.

Pilar and Nancy are two of the women who lead key areas in the development of the solar park, such as Costs and Contracts, Supply Contracts, Commercial Management, and Occupational Health and Safety. Along with them, there is a work crew, construction and assembly that is made up entirely of women. This crew carried out material distribution work and assembly of panel support modules and fixing bracket (clamps) on the tracker lines (a system that allows the panels to follow the movement of the sun). “I am a homeowner, and this project allows me to work and return home. So it has been very nice to work at this task ”, says Johanna Barros, day laborer of the Machicura project. Like her, 40 people made up the crews divided into 7 groups.

For Thomas Keller, general manager of the company, the installation of the last solar panel of the Machicura project represents an important milestone for Colbún: “The female leadership of this project is something that is deliberately thought out. One of our purposes is to increase the participation of women in traditionally masculinized areas, such as the operation and construction of projects. "

For Pilar Cruz, the fact that there is a large presence of women in its development is not the only milestone: “It fills me with pride to be part of this project, even more so considering that it was right here, on these premises of the Commune of Colbún, which the company was founded exactly 35 years ago. This makes this solar project in Machicura an emblematic one, since renewable energies such as solar or wind are complemented by hydroelectricity, which was the founding base of the company in the Colbún commune ”.

Colbún has a portfolio of five renewable energy projects in an advanced stage of development, made up of four photovoltaic solar initiatives and a wind farm totaling nearly 1,800 MW. Three of these projects are in the environmental evaluation process and two are about to start construction, corresponding to the Diego de Almagro Sur (230 MW) and Machicura (9 MW) photovoltaic projects.

Colbún's long-term renewables roadmap aims to double the size of the company by 2030, which means adding 4,000 MW.