Cerro Dominador and SQM Begin Salt Melting Process

Close to 50 thousand tons of solar salts produced by SQM in the Atacama Desert began to be melted for the Cerro Dominador project, the first solar thermal power plant in Latin America.

Solar salts are a combination of potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate that SQM produces in northern Chile. This 100% natural product generates clean energy thanks to its capacity to store energy captured during the day by the plant and maintain it to supply electricity at any time day or night, making the plant highly flexible.

The salts are melted and kept at extremely high temperatures: 540 degrees Celsius for hot tanks and 290 for the cold salt tank. Both Cerro Dominador and SQM believe that Chile can be a powerhouse in this type of technology, playing a key role in the country’s energy transition.

“Without a doubt, it is very potent team work since we also have the advantage of being neighbors. In other words, the sun and the salts are in the same place,” remarked Francisco Vizcaíno, the project’s director.

“SQM is a global leader in the production of solar salts but, by all means, it is particularly significant to be able to do this in our country and region,” explained José Miguel Berguño, Nitrates and Iodine Operations Senior Vice President at SQM.