Coal power plant in Tarapaca, Chile. Approximate location -20.258, -70.1273.
CoalTarapacaChile
DIESEL IQUIQUE(MSIQ_TGIQ) is a 43 MW coal power plant in Tarapaca, Chile. It is operated by E-CL. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 54k homes (estimated). It ranks #139 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 CHL0000019.
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: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 43 MW, DIESEL IQUIQUE(MSIQ_TGIQ) is below the median coal plant in Chile (478 MW). 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 E-CL.
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 20.3°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 70% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 24/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
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 an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion 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 #21 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 -20.258, -70.1273 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
DIESEL IQUIQUE(MSIQ_TGIQ) is a 43 MW source-record coal power plant in Tarapaca, Chile.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 53,811 homes (estimated).
DIESEL IQUIQUE(MSIQ_TGIQ) is operated by E-CL.
