Dr. Michael Geyer, senior advisor for Solar Energy Technological Development and Storage Projects of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and Dr. Frank Dinter, executive director of the Fraunhofer Chile Solar Energy Technologies Center (Fraunhofer Chile CSET) visited the salt production facilities that SQM has in the Atacama Desert on April 15th and 16th.

SQM has access to the world's largest reserves of caliche and brine between the I and II Regions of Chile, where there are the largest reserves of iodine and nitrate and also the highest concentrations of lithium and potassium. The company is the world's leading producer of these salts.

Solar salts are a quality and economical medium for storing thermal energy, and allow Solar Power Concentration (CSP) plants to supply energy 24 hours a day, even at night and on cloudy days.

Michael Geyer has participated in the development of 10 CSP projects and is a pioneer in the creation of CSP power plants worldwide. In projects where thermal storage has been used, SQM has supplied the salt. In this way, Geyer has encouraged the intensive commercialization of SQM's storage salts.

Frank Dinter is a specialist in the field of Solar Power Concentration and a member of the Association (ACSP), the first group that brings together the world of solar thermal energy in Chile. Dinter also has good contact with SQM through his activities on the CSP scene.    

The ACSP group seeks to position the Solar Power Concentration technology in the national energy matrix, thus taking advantage of the solar resource available in the territory, especially in the Big North.