Developing Wind Energy in Chile

The Valle de Los Vientos wind farm is under construction in Chile, where EGP already manages two hydropower plants and has obtained eight licences for the underground exploration of geothermal energy sources.

From geothermal power, hydropower and wind power, Chile is a goldmine of renewable energy for Enel Green Power, which is why it recently begun the construction of the Valle de Los Vientos wind farm in the Latin American nation.

The wind energy plant will consist of 45.2 megawatt wind turbines and will have a total capacity of about 90MW. When it is fully operational, the Valle de Los Vientos wind farm will produce over 200 gigawatt-hours each year, saving more than 165,000 tonnes carbon dioxide emissions.

About $140million is expected to be invested in the new wind farm.

‘We are talking about 90MW, but other plants that are under construction will increase Chile’s online capacity to about 250MW by 2016’, said EGP’s Head for Iberia and Latin America Maurizio Bezzeccheri in a recent interview with Enel Radio.

In 2012, EGP played a central role in Mexico, where it put into service the Bii Nee Stipa II e III plants, while this year the company will focus on Chile and Brazil, Bezzeccheri explained.

In Chile EGP is already managing two hydropower plants, Pullinque and Pilimaiquen, which have combined total capacity of 92MW. It has also obtained eight licences to explore underground geothermal sources and is about to build South America’s first geothermal energy plant, Cerro Pabellón, a 40MW facility in the Antofagasta region.

And besides Valle de Los Vientos, works have also started at the 90MW Talinay wind farm in the region of Coquimbo.

‘Soon we also hope to put into service PV solar plants, for which we have 500MW in the pipeline,’ Bezzeccheri went on to say. Investments in solar technology will be extremely profitable due to the strong solar irradiation in the country’s northern and central regions.

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