Supporting Chile’s energy transition

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Supporting Chile’s energy transition

As nations around the world set ambitious targets to reach climate neutrality by 2050, Chile is hoping to achieve 100 per cent self-sufficiency in emissions-free energy.

It also hopes to become one of the world’s largest exporters of hydrogen, thanks to its abundant renewable energy sources.

Harnessing the country’s power

Chile’s northern Atacama Desert is one of the world’s most intense solar hotspots, making it an ideal location for harnessing the sun’s energy. Meanwhile, a wind-swept 4000km stretch of the Chilean coastline provides the perfect setting for wind farms.

Chile also happens to be home to hundreds of volcanos and vast geothermal reservoirs lying dormant beneath their surfaces. According to a study carried out by the Chilean Energy Ministry and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), these reservoirs have the potential to generate over 5,000 terawatt-hours of electricity per year using renewables. That exceeds the country's national power requirement of around 75 terawatt-hours per year, by a long way.

Since 2014, the electrical power Chile produces from renewables like solar, small-scale hydropower, biomass and wind has increased from 6% to 25%. By 2035, over half of all the electrical power in Chile is set to be produced from renewable sources.

Keeping Chile's power supply stable

Today, the challenges around delivering climate-neutral energy through renewable sources alone remain. While the need for electrical power continues, wind and sun are often inconsistent and unreliable. Alongside this, the changing load profiles of consumers can lead to fluctuations in demand and supply.

To fill in the gaps, diesel fuel systems such as our mtu generator sets can be absolutely relied upon to deliver electrical power on demand. Over the last few years, we’ve worked alongside general contractor TSK to power a total of five plants for Chilean company Prime Energia Quickstart. To date, a total of 265 mtu electrical generator sets have been installed, delivering a total of 475 MW of power to enable the country’s energy transition.

Exporting energy in hydrogen form

In future, Chileans won’t be the only beneficiaries of the country's green power opportunities. In its national strategy for green hydrogen, the Chilean government has set out to use the country's vast solar and wind resources to produce the gas which is set to play an essential role in the energy transition.

Chile’s goal is to create an electrolyser capacity of five gigawatts by 2025 and use it to produce at least 200 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. By 2030, Chile is to become the world's biggest exporter of hydrogen with a total of 25 gigawatts of electrolyser capacity at its disposal.

This hydrogen will play a key role in supporting the transition to climate neutrality worldwide. For example, used with fuel cells it can produce CO2-neutral electrical power for ships and other vehicles. In industry, it can replace what is referred to as 'grey hydrogen' –hydrogen made using natural gas. Electrical power from renewables forms the bedrock of these developments, and Chile is one of its key pioneers.

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