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AES Andes Abandons Paranal-Site Plan for INNA Project After Scientific Protest

The developer will relocate its green-hydrogen project after an ESO analysis showed a major light-pollution risk.

Overview

  • Company statements confirm the INNA industrial complex will not be built near Chile’s Paranal Observatory and a new location will be sought.
  • ESO’s assessment found the project would raise skyglow over the Very Large Telescope by at least 35 percent, threatening observations.
  • The proposed site lay roughly 5 to 11 kilometers from Paranal, where the VLT operates and the Extremely Large Telescope is under construction.
  • International astronomers, led publicly by Nobel laureate Reinhard Genzel, organized protests and an open letter urging relocation.
  • Scientists emphasized they support green-hydrogen development, arguing the objection concerned proximity to one of the world’s darkest observing sites.