European Southern Observatory Telescopes Saved from Industrial Project Pollution
In a letter sent to the Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental, II Región de Antofagasta (SEA Antofagasta), Chile's Environmental Assessment Service, on February 6, 2026, AES Andes requested the withdrawal of the megaproject INNA from evaluation. This formally confirms that the project is not going ahead. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) welcomes this announcement.
ESO Director General Xavier Barcons. “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.”
AES Andes, a subsidiary of the US company AES Corporation, announced on Friday, January 23, 2026, that they had decided to discontinue INNA, a green hydrogen and green ammonia project, to focus on their renewable energy portfolio instead. A detailed technical analysis by ESO last year revealed that INNA would cause severe, irreversible damage to the dark skies of Paranal and to the capacity of its facilities to operate as designed. The most significant impacts, affecting facilities such as the Very Large Telescope (VLT), the VLT Interferometer (VLTI), the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), and CTAO-South, would be caused by light pollution, micro-vibrations, dust, and an increase of the air turbulence in the area.
“As we have said before, ESO and its Member States are fully supportive of energy decarbonization and initiatives that ensure a more prosperous and sustainable future. Green-energy projects—and other industrial projects that drive national and regional development—are fully compatible with astronomical observatories, if the different facilities are located at sufficient distances from one another,” says Barcons.
The INNA case and its proposed location highlight the urgent need to establish clear protection measures in the areas around astronomical observatories. Such measures are essential to allow astronomical observatories to continue operating, particularly in a region widely regarded as the best in the world for optical astronomy facilities, owing to the exceptional darkness of the skies over northern Chile.
“We will continue to work in close collaboration with local, regional, and national authorities to protect the dark skies of northern Chile, an irreplaceable natural heritage that is essential for advancing our understanding of the Universe and to enable world-class astronomy for the benefit of Chile and the global scientific community,” says Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo, ESO’s Representative in Chile.
“It has been incredibly reassuring to see so many people in Chile and around the world care deeply about, and actively speak up for, the protection of dark and quiet skies in the context of the INNA project,” says Barcons. “We are sincerely grateful for this engagement and solidarity. It gives us confidence that, by working together, we can continue to protect dark and quiet skies in Chile and elsewhere—for astronomy research and for humankind.” Since the project was submitted to SEA in December 2024, members of the astronomy community in Chile, in ESO’s Member States and beyond, political leaders and authorities at international, national, regional and local level, as well as countless members of the public, have made their voices heard in support of this shared goal.
ESO will continue to intensify its efforts to ensure that the pristine skies of Paranal remain the world’s best window to observe the Universe, and is also committed to the broader fight against light pollution and satellite interference, helping secure the natural heritage of dark and quiet skies around the world for future generations.
https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/pdf/eso2506a.pdf
https://www.eso.org/
https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/
Extremely Large Telescope (ELT):
https://elt.eso.org
Release Date: Feb. 6, 2026
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