To step up its effort in exploring renewable energy sources, the Ministry of National Resources in Chile will be conducting a bid process for 2,896 hectares of land which will be dedicated for renewable energy projects.

PV Tech reported that it will be located in the Arica and Parinacota region, an area adjacent to Peru to the north, and is also near Bolivia and the Tarapaca Region in the same country.

It also highlighted that the public tender became effective starting Jan. 11. The call for bids is also reportedly a part of the deal between Ministries of Energy and National Resources "to promote renewable projects in the country and diversify the energy mix."

Victor Osorio, the country's minister for national property mentioned in the PV Tech report that this region in Chile is a perfect site for the project.

"[It] has great potential for the production of electricity based on solar energy, and for the application of PV solutions, [with] high levels of radiation and exceptional levels of clarity," Osorio explained.

He, however, claimed that there are challenges in trying to boost investments for the renewables sector.

According to SeeNews, Chile has been strengthening efforts to use clean energy like solar power.

This bidding process is expected to result in long-term contracts for renewable energy projects.

Last year, the country was able to award concessions for 50,528 hectares of state land to be dedicated to their projects.

The same report noted that other renewable project sites in Chile are Tarapaca, Antofagasta, Atacama and Maule.

"The projects are calling for a combined investment of $16.9 billion," SeeNews added.

In December 2015, The Guardian reported that a solar power tower was set up 200 meters above the Atacama desert.

It noted that the purpose of this structure is to harvest energy from the sun using giant mirrors.

The tower is said to be part of the Atacama 1 Concentrated Solar Power plant, which highlights the push of a cleaner and smarter way to generate electricity.

According to PV Tech, Chile has also tendered more than 400 hectares of public land for their renewable energy projects last October.

The holistic approach for these projects has encouraged even the mining industry to turn to renewable energy.

The Wall Street Journal earlier said that state-owned Codelco mine is now powered with about 3,000 solar panels that gets its energy from the Atacama Desert where it placed panels in a land area as large as eight football fields.

"This blue sky makes me happy. It means we are generating more, and it is much better for business," said plant manager Rodrigo Aravena.