The Elecnor Foundation partners with the Chilean community of Totoral

The Elecnor Foundation has signed an agreement with the INDAP (Institute of Agricultural Development in Chile) to introduce solutions aimed at kerbing drought in the Chilean community of Totoral, in the Atacama Region.

More specifically, the Partnership Agreement seeks to lend support to a community living in inadequate social and economic conditions; one without the basic infrastructure required to meet its energy, irrigation water and drinking water needs.

Within this context, the Elecnor Foundation will provide photovoltaic solar panels that will afford inhabitants electrical power and enable them to draw water for families and crop farming.

More specifically, the project consists of installing: a 37-kW photovoltaic solar power plant connected to an existing generator, with a view to power the drinking-water plant and form a power supply grid for subscribing inhabitants; an 11-kW photovoltaic solar power plant that will power a pump situated in the existing pond and draw an average of around 250 m3 of water per day to the new 3,000m3 equalising reservoir; a water supply network for the drip irrigation system; and four photovoltaic street lights in Totoral's main square.

These facilities will, among other things, help make the region's farmers more productive and their processes more profitable, decreasing the energy costs inherent to the irrigation techniques they use. They will also promote entrepreneurship and trade in the region.

The INDAP, an entity under the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture, intends to support the development of small producers and farmers through measures that encourage production and help generate and bolster human, financial and productive resources, all with a view to overcome poverty and render domestic crop farming more sustainable and more competitive.