A controversial project threatened one of Earth’s clearest skies - now it’s officially cancelled

The international astronomical community is celebrating. The mega-project by AES Andes, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based AES Corporation, has been canceled, and the construction of a massive hydrogen plant next to some of the world’s most powerful telescopes will not move forward.

The project, known as INNA, aimed to build a renewable energy and storage facility. Scientists had raised concerns about the initiative, arguing that its construction would increase light pollution, dust emissions, and atmospheric turbulence that could interfere with observations at the Paranal and Armazones observatories.

Ultimately, the company decided to withdraw the project. “This cancellation means that the INNA project will no longer have a negative impact on the Paranal Observatory,” said Itziar de Gregorio, a representative in Chile for the European Southern Observatory.

“The project would pose a major threat to the darkest and clearest skies on Earth”

The project was expected to cover approximately 3,000 hectares near Chile’s optical telescopes. Scientists argued that there was no need to build the energy complex so close to the observatories, given the negative effects it could have on astronomers’ work.

Specifically, the complex was planned to be built a little more than 7 miles from Paranal, home to the Very Large Telescope, which is operated by the European Southern Observatory. “Due to its planned location, the project would pose a major threat to the darkest and clearest skies on Earth and to the performance of the most advanced astronomical facilities anywhere in the world,” said Xavier Barcons, Director General of the European Southern Observatory.

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