Bío Bío (Chile) approves the Viento Sur Wind Farm

The wind power initiative will consist of up to 43 wind turbines, which will have a nominal power of 5 MW each, totaling a nominal installed power of up to 215 MW. A period of two years is estimated for the construction and subsequent commissioning of the wind farm.
The evaluation council of the Regional Government of Bío Bío unanimously approved the Wind Farm Wind Farm project with a total of seven votes, taking into account the favorable recommendation of the services that participate in the environmental evaluation process (SEA).

The project consists of the construction and operation of a wind farm consisting of 43 wind turbines, which will have an installed capacity of up to 215 MW, equivalent to the energy to supply nearly 540,000 homes.
ARAUCO has been working for nearly four years on this initiative that seeks to contribute directly to the generation of wind energy and contribute to the diversification of the country’s energy matrix, injecting energy into the National Electric System (SEN).

The company – which has extensive experience in the development of energy from forest biomass – expects the project to be built within a period of up to two years, with an investment of US$300 million.
“This is very good news, since Viento Sur will allow us to take another step forward in the generation of clean and renewable energy,” said Mauricio Leiva, Deputy Manager of Public Affairs at ARAUCO.

In 2018, a voluntary process of early participation was carried out, and then -in March 2019- the project entered the environmental evaluation process, which considered a stage of citizen participation, during which more than 1,800 observations were made by the community. .

After that process, the indigenous consultation phase was carried out, which lasted more than two years, in order to have the comments and suggestions of the communities close to the project, so that it could be developed collaboratively.

All these points were considered by the authorities in charge of the evaluation, who rated the initiative favorably, since it complied with the regulations and requirements demanded by environmental institutions.