This city's (Santiago, Chile) subway system will soon run mostly on renewable energy

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-citys-subway-system-will-soon-run-entirely-on-renewable-energy-2017-07-28

This city’s subway system will soon run mostly on renewable energy
Published: July 28, 2017 1:48 p.m. ET

60% of its energy from solar and wind



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Next year, Santiago’s subway system, one of Latin America’s biggest, will buy 60% of its energy from solar and wind projects. In northern Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the world’s best environments for solar generation, California-based SunPower Corp. SPWR, +2.90% will produce 42% of the subway system’s power with a 100-megawatt solar plant using 254,000 panels covering an area the size of 370 football fields. A recently built wind farm just north of the solar project will supply 18% of the system’s electricity.

The subway’s move to green energy comes as more transportation providers look to renewables to charge up. In Australia, the city of Adelaide uses solar-powered buses. In Belgium, 16,000 solar panels were installed on the roof of 2 miles of covered railway between Antwerp and Amsterdam to provide power for commuter trains and a station. In Canada, Calgary’s light-rail transit system is powered almost entirely by wind. Solar power is also expected to be used soon for the tram network in Melbourne, Australia, and the subway in Delhi, India.

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“Metros are seeking more environmentally friendly methods of supplying power,” says Alexander Barron, who heads the Community of Metros and Nova Group of Metros, industry associations that include the world’s biggest subways. “Santiago is probably on the leading edge.”

Chile has looked to renewables because they already are often cheaper than its alternatives and provide some energy independence for the country. Solar and wind are seen as alternatives to importing oil and gas, which the country lacks. By 2050, renewables are expected to supply 70% of the country’s electricity, up from 15% as of March.

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