President Piñera announces early closure of four more coal-fired power plants by 2025
The plants are Angamos 1 and 2 in Mejillones and Nueva Ventanas and Campiche in Puchuncaví. The move is part of the plan to decarbonize the energy matrix in order to fight climate change and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
President of Chile Sebastián Piñera spoke in favor of the early closure of four coal-fired power plants by 2025, which would accelerate the plan to decarbonize the energy matrix.
The President held a videoconference at La Moneda Presidential Palace with the President and CEO of AES Corp, Andrés Gluski. Also in attendance were Environment Minister Carolina Schmidt, Energy and Mining Minister Juan Carlos Jobet, Energy Undersecretary Francisco López, AES Andes Board President Julián Nebreda and the company’s Executive Director, Ricardo Falú.
The measure, which seeks to reduce the emission of approximately 6 million tons of CO2, was announced during the meeting. It is equivalent to removing 2.4 million private vehicles from circulation in Chile.
The plan will remove an additional 1,097 MW, leaving just 10 of the country’s 28 coal plants operational between 2026 and 2040, which is equal to 20% of current installed capacity.
The maximum capacity of coal plants in the National Electric System in 2018 was 5,526 MW, with 28 generator units. Following this announcement, there will be only 1,965 MW generated by the 10 coal-fired plants that will remain operational.
This is part of the commitment that the government has made to combat climate change and reach carbon neutrality, which means converting the country’s energy matrix to renewable and environmentally friendly sources.