CHILE

In 2019, the Chilean government announced a decarbonization plan designed to shut down the nation’s entire coal fleet by 2040. At the time, more than 30% of Chile’s electricity was supplied by the country’s 28 operating coal-fired units, which had a combined capacity of 5,541 megawatts (MW), mostly fueled by imported coal. The government’s original plan called for the shutdown of eight units totaling 1,069 MW by 2024, which was achieved by midyear – with the remainder to be decommissioned between 2025 and 2040. Chile has put in place an ambitious coal power phaseout strategy, and it appears likely that the Chilean power system will be coal free sooner than 2040. Chile’s Paris climate pledge, laid out in the 2020 revision of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) report, calls for the country to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in large part due to the shutdown of its coal fleet. In September 2021, Chile was part of the coalition of national governments that launched the No New Coal Power Compact, which requires supporters to cease permitting of new coal power plants and end new construction of unabated coal plants by the end of 2021. In 2021, Chile also joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), pledging to take significant steps to bring forward its 2040 phaseout deadline. In mid-2024, the country’s operational coal capacity was 3,826 MW and approximately 2,100 MW of capacity was planned to retire within the next two years.