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Energy profile of Chile

Energy profile of Chile

Published:
Updated: June 3, 2013, 12:38 pm
Topics: Energy Geography
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor: Langdon D. Clough

Chile is the only member of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in South America. It is the fifth-largest consumer of energy on the continent, but unlike most other large economies in the region, it is only a minor producer of fossil fuels. Therefore, Chile is heavily dependent on energy imports.

Oil

Chile imports over 300,000 barrels per day (bbl/d of oil), which is fairly evenly split between refined petroleum products and crude oil. Imported crude oil, as well as a small amount of domestically produced crude, is processed in three refineries owned by the state-owned Empresa Nacional del Petróleo (ENAP), with a total capacity of 227,000 bbl/d.

Most of Chile's crude oil imports originate in other South American countries, particularly Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina. However, the United States is Chile's leading source of refined petroleum product imports, mostly in the form of distillate fuel oil.

 

 

Natural Gas

Most of Chile's natural gas imports arrive as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Equatorial Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, Qatar, and Yemen. Chile has two regasification terminals: Mejillones, in the north, and Quintero, near the large urban centers of Valparaíso and Santiago. Chile also imports natural gas from Argentina by various pipelines that were constructed in the late 1990s. Imports from Argentina grew dramatically in the decade that followed, but Chile expedited its efforts to develop LNG import capabilities after policy changes and production declines curtailed Argentina's natural gas exports. More recently, Menathex idled at least part of its large methanol facility in southern Chile, reportedly because of inadequate supplies of natural gas from Argentina.

 

Electricity

Chile had 16 gigawatts (GW) of installed electric capacity as of 2010. Approximately one-third of Chile's electric capacity and generation are attributable to hydroelectric plants that provide much of the electricity to Chile's largest grid, the Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC). Wind capacity had grown to an estimated 160 megawatts (MW) as of 2010, and is poised to grow further with the construction of the 115-MW El Arrayan project, which will be Chile's largest wind farm when it becomes operational in 2014.

Most of the country's electricity supply that is not supplied by hydroelectricity, including to the Sistema Interconectado del Norte Grande (SING) grid which supplies power to many large mining operations, is provided by thermoelectric plants. The generation of thermoelectric power from coal and natural gas has increased dramatically in recent years, mostly at the expense of oil-fired generation, according to statistics from the Comisión Nacional de Energía.

 

 

Coal

As with oil and natural gas, Chile must import most of the coal that it uses. However, in 2011, the government approved a controversial coal mining project in Patagonia, which would be operated in a joint venture between Ultramar and Copec. Officials claim that the project could replace 30 percent of Chile's coal imports, but it has engendered considerable opposition from environmentalists.

 

 

Further Reading

US Governement

Foreign Government Agencies

Oil and Natural Gas

Electricity

Disclaimer: This article is taken wholly from, or contains information that was originally published by, the Energy Information Administration. Topic editors and authors for the Encyclopedia of Earth may have edited its content or added new information. The use of information from the Energy Information Administration should not be construed as support for or endorsement by that organization for any new information added by EoE personnel, or for any editing of the original content.

 

Citation

Energy Information Administration (Lead Author);Langdon D. Clough (Topic Editor) "Energy profile of Chile". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth September 4, 2008; Last revised Date June 3, 2013; Retrieved June 18, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Energy_profile_of_Chile>

The Author

Energy Information Administration The Energy Information Administration (EIA), created by Congress in 1977, is a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. EIA is the nation’s premier source of unbiased energy data, analysis and forecasting. It provides policy-independent data, forecasts, and analyses to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. By law, EIA’s products are prepared independently of Administrati ... (Full Bio)

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