SOUTH AMERICA’S FIRST GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT STARTS OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN CHILE
Monday, 03 de April
Cerro Pabellón power plant changed the history of geothermal energy in our region, being the first project in this part of the continent to generate and supply electricity right from Earth´s heat.
Last March 31st, Cerro Pabellón power plant, located in Ollagüe (Antofagasta region), started delivering electricity to the Interconnected System that serves northern Chile.
The geothermal plant, built by Enel Green Power Chile Ltda. and ENAP, has an installed capacity of 48MW, which is enough energy to power, for example, a city of the size of Calama. Once fully up and running, the plant will be able to produce about 340 GWh per year, equivalent to the consumption needs of over 165,000 Chilean households, while avoiding the annual emission into the atmosphere of more than 166,000 tons of CO2.
This event is a major milestone in the development of this kind of energy in Chile, one of the world´s largest untapped geothermal nations. After almost a century of exploration and research of this natural resource, Chile finally has opened the way for the use of geothermal energy.
More information
https://www.enelgreenpower.com/en/media/press/d201703-enel-and-enap-connect-to-the-grid-first-geothermal-plant-in-south-america-cerro-pabelln-.html