Coal power plant in Coquimbo, Chile. Approximate location -29.5, -71.2667.
CoalCoquimboChilesubcritical
Barrancones power station is a 540 MW coal power station in Coquimbo, Chile. It is operated by ENGIE SA [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 676k homes (estimated). It ranks #17 of 336 Chile power plants by installed capacity. In context, coal supplies about 17.8% of Chile's electricity; the national grid averages 289 gCO₂/kWh (66.4% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_coa_barrancones_chile.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: GEM GCPT; fuel: GEM GCPT
At 540 MW, Barrancones power station is well above the median coal plant in Chile (478 MW). Technically it is described as subcritical. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by ENGIE SA [100%].
This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 29.5°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with dust abrasion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #9 largest coal power plant of 22 in Chile by capacity.
Chile has 22 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 12,437 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -29.5, -71.2667 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Barrancones power station is a 540 MW coal power plant in Coquimbo, Chile.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 675,771 homes (estimated).
Barrancones power station is operated by ENGIE SA [100%].
