CORFO Awards Institute of Clean Technologies to a Consortium Led by AUI

The following is press coverage on the Clean Technologies Institute Award given by CORFO, translated by Google.

Located in the Antofagasta Region, it seeks to promote local and national development. It will be the largest investment in Research and Development in Latin America in this matter and a technological reference worldwide.

The Corfo Council today awarded the Clean Technologies Institute (ICTL), the largest Research and Development (R&D) center and which will be located in the Antofagasta Region, to a consortium led by AUI (Associated Universities Inc), an independent organization and non-profit organization that has among its founding members prestigious American universities, such as Harvard University, MIT, Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, Pennsylvania, Princeton, John Hopkins, Rochester and Yale.

The initiative seeks to promote regional and national development, and aims to promote solar energy, sustainable mining and advanced materials of lithium and other minerals, and green hydrogen. It is expected that by 2030 it will be a technological reference worldwide in its areas of specialization, and a center for innovation and entrepreneurship with a global scope, which will capture value for the regional and national economy by taking advantage of the unique conditions of the Atacama Desert.

“With this Institute, we will turn the Antofagasta Region and Chile into a true laboratory for testing cutting-edge technologies for sustainable energy and mining projects. AUI gives confidence regarding the domain of these technologies that we want to attract and implement in our country. Sustainable reactivation is very important for the Government, for this we must advance in our main industries applying R&D in their projects, promoting investment and local development and the generation of quality jobs “, says Pablo Terrazas, Executive Vice President of Corfo .

And he adds: “Our local universities and institutes will have the possibility to enhance their research with AUI, which has the capacity to bring together leading universities in the United States and other parts of the world, and significantly expand opportunities for development and innovation in Chile in matters that are key to advancing towards the future we want ”.

The initiative seeks that the contribution of this Institute is long-term for the country and that its development is sustainable over time. For this reason, in the next 10 years it considers a total investment of US $ 265 million, where the contribution from SQM contracts will be 54%, while that of AUI will be 46%. These contributions also include those of companies such as Colbún, Enel, AES Gener, Enaex, among others. After that period, the total cost of the ICTL will be borne by the institute itself.

This consortium, in its commitment to contribute to local and national development, considers the participation in its directory of Universities of the North Macrozone and 3 representatives of the private sector.

AUI is 74 years old and its research has generated four Nobel Prizes. It has a solid presence in Chile and the region, and led the construction and today manages the operations of the Alma Observatory on behalf of North America, together with astronomical research institutions from Europe and East Asia, where together they have invested US $ 1,400 millions.

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