Chile will switch off all of its 28 coal-fired power plants by 2040, removing from the grid 5GW that today accounts for 21% to the country’s total installed capacity to make way for renewables.

The first step of the decarbonisation programme, known as Chile Zero Carbon, will remove the eight most polluting coal-fired plants, totalling 1GW by 2024. These are the oldest plants, which started operations from 1964 through 1999.

The government hasn’t announced yet a detailed schedule for the other 4GW that will be switched off.

“With this measure we are facing up to one of the main emitters of greenhouse gases,” said Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s president.

We are facing up to one of the main emitters of greenhouse gases.

Coal accounts for around 30% of the country’s power supply and 28% of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which the government has promised to cut by 30% by 2030 from 2007 levels in the Paris agreement. Chile accounts for 0.25% of world’s emissions and the energy sector accounted for over 70% of the country’s total GHG emissions in 2010.

According to energy minister Susana Jiménez, the coal generators will be replaced by renewable energy generation. Ministry officials see Chile reaching “carbon neutrality” by 2050.

The decommissioning schedule was published about one year after the initial MoU signed with utilities such as AES Corp, Enel, Engie, Endesa and Colbún who own of most of the coal-fired capacity. AES Corp is biggest coal plant operator in Chile, with 1.9GW while Engie has 1.4GW.

The president of Chile’s Renewable Energy Association (ACERA), José Ignacio Escobar, praised the initiative but said that the government should now move one to switch off all other fossil fuel power technologies.

“We hope that similar announcements [of switching off polluting power generation] will continue … this will maintain our leadership in the region in the race towards a sustainable power mix so why not also be the leader in the world?,” he said in a statement.

Fossil fuels, including natural gas, diesel and fuel oil, account for 24% of country’s installed capacity and large hydro accounts for 34%. Aside from the country’s huge solar resources, it also has a large geothermal potential.

After tiny Uruguay, which topped 20% wind power supply in 2018, Chile is the most advanced in terms of non-large hydro power supply in the region. With a total of some 5GW of renewables, including 2.3GW of solar and 1.5GW of wind, about 19% of current power supply comes from renewables, close to 2025 target of 20%.

The announcement also comes in the same year that Chile will host this year’s Climate Change Conference (COP25), after Brazil declined to host the event after right wing, climate change sceptic Jair Bolsonaro was elected president.

According to ACERA, more measures to boost renewables are expected to be announced and Chile is already discussing the possibility of reached 70% renewable power supply by 2050, and even reach 100% by 2070.

But, according to local press, the decarbonisation programme has raised criticism from the towns where the coal plants are located. The mayor of Tocopilla, in northern Chile, for example, called for the national government to implement a job reallocation programme since he said the city's 25,000 inhabitants will suffer with high unemployment and reduction in economic activity.

Wind

Chile plans total coal shutdown to make way for renewables