Geotérmica del Norte, a joint venture between Enel Chile’s renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power Chile (EGPC) and ENAP, started to build a third generation unit of 33 MW at the geothermal power plant Cerro Pabellón. The construction of the new unit will involve an investment of around US$100 million and is expected to start operations in the second half of 2020.
The new facility, combined with the 48 MW of the two already operating units, will bring Cerro Pabellón’s total capacity to 81 MW. Once the third unit is fully operational, the overall geothermal plant will be able to generate 600 GWh per year, avoiding the emission of around 468,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Located on the high plateau of the Atacama Desert in the Antofagasta Region, Cerro Pabellón is the only geothermal plant in South America and the highest of its kind in the world, located at 4,500 meters above sea level.
