June 5 (Bloomberg) -- Chile, faced with an energy shortage that threatens to disrupt output at the world's biggest copper mines, may tap solar energy to help avoid power rationing.

The government is considering a plan to install solar panels in the Atacama Desert, where more than a fifth of the world's copper is mined, Energy Minister Marcelo Tokman said. Tokman and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet will travel to Nevada next week to visit the world's third-largest solar plant, which powers part of Las Vegas.

``With the current metal prices, mining companies can't afford to be exposed to risks in the supply of electricity,'' Tokman said yesterday in an interview at the Foreign Relations Ministry in Santiago. ``Sooner rather than later, we are going to have solar-powered energy in the north.''

The installations could help ease an energy shortage in northern Chile caused when Argentina started reducing natural- gas shipments in 2004. It would also help Bachelet reach her goal of developing enough alternative-energy sources to generate 15 percent of new supplies in Chile, which imports almost three-quarters of its power.

Still, solar energy is unlikely to solve the problem, Tokman said. Spanish energy company Acciona SA says the 182,000 parabolic mirrors at its Solar One plant in Nevada, which Tokman will visit next week, produce 64 megawatts of energy. Chilean utility GasAtacama SA generates 780 megawatts for the northern grid.

``The solution here is diversification,'' Tokman said.

Larger Solar Plants

Newer technologies are allowing solar companies to build bigger plants, John Wilson, an adviser to the California Energy Commission, said in an interview today.

FPL Group Inc., which is based in Juno Beach, Florida, and is the largest generator of solar electricity in the U.S., will build a 250-megawatt-capacity site in Kern County, California, the company said March 26.

Google Inc., Chevron Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have installed 550,000 mirrors on a 1,000-acre plant in the Mojave Desert. They are betting the energy will become cheaper than coal.

Chilean government officials will visit Ausra Inc., a company that produces flat mirrors, which may be cheaper than the parabolic ones used by Acciona, Tokman said. The minister, a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, will also visit researchers at his alma mater to learn about the latest solar technology.

Atacama Desert

The Atacama Desert is home to BHP Billiton's Escondida copper mine, the world's biggest, and the largest division of Codelco, the world's top copper producer.

President Bachelet signaled her interest in solar- technology advances in California in a May 21 speech.

``Why not take advantage of our north, where the sun shines all year, as a big source of energy?'' she asked.

Solar-technology companies such as Acciona may be able to provide 1,000 megawatts to Chile's northern power grid, which supplies a total of 5,000 megawatts, Wilson said.

``A 20 percent solution is a pretty significant solution for the northern system,'' Wilson said. Companies operating in the Mojave are interested in doing the same in the Atacama, he said. ``It's very similar terrain.''

Companies such as Acciona may choose the Atacama Desert to build solar plants unaided by subsidies to prove they are profitable, Tokman said. Acciona's $260 million Solar One plant, located in Boulder City, powers 14,000 homes across Nevada from its 400-acre site. The site is the equivalent of 200 football fields.

No Chilean Subsidies

``If they manage to develop a profitable project in Chile, where there are no subsidies, it will be an amazing marketing opportunity for them to sell in other parts of the world,'' Tokman said.

Chile's government also plans other projects to boost energy supplies. State-owned Codelco and France's Suez SA will spend about $500 million to import liquefied natural gas to northern Chile.

Codelco agreed to spend $200 million in four years to bail out GasAtacama, El Diario reported May 30. Ten companies agreed in April to provide $650 million for GasAtacama, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Craze in Santiago at mcraze@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 5, 2008 14:42 EDT