Enel and Chilean outfit ENAP have inaugurated the 48MW Cerro Pabellón geothermal plant in Chile.
The facility consists of two 24MW units and is the first geothermal plant in South America, Enel said.
Cerro Pabellón, which is located in the Ollagüe district of the Antofagasta region, will deliver 340 gigawatts hours of electricity a year.
It cost $320m to build and is owned by Geotérmica del Norte, a joint venture between Enel Green Power Chile (83.65%) and ENAP (16.35%).
The first 24MW unit started to deliver energy to the Norte Grande transmission system at the end of March, while the second unit will be fully operational in October, Enel said.
Enel chief executive Francesco Starace said: “We hope that this milestone will be for Chile the starting point of a new path in energy development to boost the growth of its geothermal sector which can leverage on a significant potential and resource availability.”
Image: Enel
