Enel plans to close down its Bocamina coal-fired power plant exiting Chile’s coal power sector, media reports said. The Bocamina plant is located in Coronel.
Enel Chile and Enel Generacion Chile have informed the market about their board of directors’ decision to close the coal plant at the earliest possible. The closing of Bocamina coal-fired power plant is in line with Enel’s decarbonisation strategy.
Head of Global Power Generation at Enel Antonio Cammisecra, said in a statement, “We will be the first power company in Chile to fully exit the coal sector, while continuing to safely build renewable capacity, with concrete benefits from an environmental, economic and social standpoint. This is fully in line with our Group’s decarbonization strategy. Our approach addresses our people, and specifically those colleagues working in coal facilities and coal technology, who are given opportunities to retrain on other technologies within the Group.”
It is reported that the net book value of the two Bocamina units is estimated around €790 million, media reports said. Enel Generacion Chile seeks to request Chile’s National Energy Commission to authorise the closing of operations of both Bocamina Units.
Enel in a statement said, “In line with its decarbonisation strategy, Enel Group plans to disconnect Bocamina plant’s Unit I by December 31st, 2020 and Unit II by May 31st, 2022, while at the same time, through Enel Green Power Chile, it is planning to complete 2 GW of renewable capacity in the country.”
Enel is the largest power company by installed capacity in Chile. It has an installed capacity of more than over 7,200 MW.