Chile’s Energy Ministry and Enel head up the closure of the Tarapacá thermoelectric plant as part of the plan to decarbonize Chile’s electricity matrix

Energy Minister Juan Carlos Jobet traveled to the Tarapacá Region to lead the closure of the Tarapacá thermoelectric plant. He was accompanied by the Regional Governor, Miguel Ángel Quezada, Country Manager and CEO at Enel Chile, Paolo Pallotti, and Enel Generación Chile General Manager Michele Siciliano. The facility ceased operating on December 31, marking a new milestone in the decarbonization of Chile’s energy matrix.

“We welcome the effort made by the company to bring forward the closure of this plant, which had been scheduled for May 2020, thanks to an agreement with the government. As we put the lock on the doors of this plant here today, we are marking a new milestone in the decarbonization of Chile’s energy matrix. This encourages us to continue to work with companies and the public to move forward with the closure schedule for our coal-fired thermoelectric plants,” Minister Juan Carlos Jobet noted.

The Energy Minister added, “the work that we are developing with the employees, the company and the Employment Ministry to allow people to develop new skills and/or retrain is also important.”

Paolo Pallotti explained, “we have worked individually with each and every one of the 50 people who were employed at the Tarapacá Plant, taking into account their personal and family situation, experience and wishes. As a result, 27 employees have been moved to other thermoelectric plants, 8 to renewable generation plants, 3 to other areas of the company, 11 have opted for an exit plan and one person is pending relocation.”

“At Enel, we decided to make a commitment that we see as an additional integral part of the National Decarbonization Plan: that the closure of coal-powered plants does not mean the loss of job opportunities for our workers. Without exception everyone who worked at the Tarapacá Plant was offered a relocation plan. We will maintain this commitment in each of the closure processes that we carry out over the next few years,” the executive explained.

It is important to note that, according to the schedule set out in the coal-powered plant closure agreement signed by the government in June 2019, the Tarapacá plant was due to close in May 2020. However, the company, in consultation with the government, decided to bring forward the closure.

Minister Jobet welcomed the initiative, highlighting that this is a key area of focus for his administration: “For our industry, 2019 was a year of seeking to reach agreement and consensus for moving towards a more sustainable energy matrix. The first step was a public-private agreement that led to the Energy Matrix Decarbonization Plan. Then we recently announced that four more plants will close early, especially in industrially saturated areas.”

Meanwhile, the Regional Governor of Tarapacá, Miguel Ángel Quezada, spoke about the impact on the region: “The National Decarbonization Plan is one of the most important milestones that President Sebastián Piñera’s government is achieving. It will allow Chile to be one of the first countries in the world to become carbon neutral. Tarapacá is making significant progress in this area with the closure of the region’s only plant. This will allow us to get 83% of our energy from non-conventional renewable energy sources and we hope to transition completely to such sources soon.”

The Regional Secretary of the Energy Ministry, Ximena Cancino, added, “the plant’s closure puts the Tarapacá Region at the cutting edge of Chile’s energy transition and also involves social issues such as the movement of jobs.”

Decarbonization Plan

The “Zero Carbon Energy” plan involves the scheduled closure of the country’s thermoelectric plants and complete decarbonization of Chile’s national energy matrix by 2040. The objective is to reduce greenhouse effect emissions and to boost the generation of energy from renewable sources.

It is worth remembering that less than a month ago Minister Jobet announced that the closure was to be brought forward for four carbon-powered plants totaling 700 MW.

These are the plants located in Mejillones (CTM1 and CTM2) owned by Engie, which have a total capacity of 334 MW and were added to the first phase, and the Ventanas 1 and 2 plants owned by AES Gener, which have a capacity of 340 MW. The government is to accelerate regulatory changes and investments in transmission in order to make the closures viable.

Technical visit to Atacama Solar and meeting in Pica

Minister Jobet continued his activities in the region with a technical visit to the Atacama Solar Photovoltaic plant (171 MW), which is owned by Sonnedix. Construction work began in August 2019 and is now 52% complete. Prior to breaking ground, a series of meetings were held with local communities in order to ensure that they were aware of the project’s scope, the construction schedule and the opportunities for jobs and education.

Atacama Solar involves an investment of US$180 million, including the transmission line. It has an annual projected generation of 470 GWh to provide power to 200,000 homes and is expected to begin operations in November 2020.

“Following the closure of the thermoelectric plant and the incorporation of S4 Solar in 2019, we have an installed capacity of renewables in the region of 67%. When it comes to projects under construction or implemented, we have moved from 20% to 85% renewable energy.”

The Minister and Regional Governor also visited the municipality of Pica for a community meeting. They met with the municipal mayor, Iván Infante, and the mayor of Camiña, Sisto García, with whom they discussed the area’s energy challenges and projects.

During the meeting, the Energy Minister officially presented the results of the national competition to replace street lighting for the 30% poorest municipalities based on self-generated income. Camiña placed first among the nine municipalities chosen. As a result, 350 lights will be replaced at a total investment of 120 million pesos (around US$6.4 million).