PLAN FOR DECARBONISATION AND CLOSURE OF COAL- FIRED POWER PLANTS IN CHILE
Announcement by the government of Sebastián Piñera – 4 June 2019
Chile is a country which depends on coal as a fossil fuel to generate 40% of its electricity, with a fleet consisting of 28 thermal power plants with a generating capacity of 5,500 megawatts. Ownership of these coal plants is concentrated in the hands of 4 companies: the American AES-Gener, with 15 units; the French Engie with 9 units; the Italian ENEL with 3 units and the Chilean Colbún, owner of one plant. These plants are located in 6 cities throughout Chile, four of which exceed the emission standards for air pollutants, so they have been declared latent or saturated and are the subject of prevention and decontamination plans.
In terms of overall pollutants, 78% of CO2 emissions in Chile are caused by the energy sector, in which electricity is the main culprit with 41.5%, followed by transport with 31.3%. For this reason, the country’s main opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions is in the electricity generation sector, where coal-fired generators have the economic and technical capacity to achieve rapid decarbonisation.
