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HUASCO

Oil power plant in Atacama, Chile. Approximate location -28.4707, -71.2526.

OilAtacamaChile

HUASCO is a 58 MW oil power plant in Atacama, Chile. It is operated by EMPRESA NACIONAL DE ELECTRICIDAD S.A.. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 43,324 homes (estimated). It ranks #101 of 315 Chile power plants by installed capacity. In context, oil supplies about 0.6% of Chile's electricity; the national grid averages 289 gCO₂/kWh (66.4% low-carbon) (2025).

58MW installed capacity
43,324homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CHL0000054.

~113,727 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

26,510passenger cars driven for a year
14,831homes' yearly energy use
1,895,445tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 30% load factor × a typical oil emission factor (~750 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Capacity vs largest oil plants in Chile

NUEVA RENCA: 370 MW370NUEVA RENCAQUINTERO: 255 MW255QUINTEROYUNGAY: 199 MW199YUNGAYCARDONES: 152 MW152CARDONESSANTA LIDIA: 138 MW138SANTA LIDIALOS VIENTOS: 131 MW131LOS VIENTOSLOS ESPINOS: 124 MW124LOS ESPINOSOLIVOS: 115 MW115OLIVOS

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by EMPRESA NACIONAL DE ELECTRICIDAD S.A.. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 28.5°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

14.7°Cannual mean temp
1,229heating degree-days (base 18°C)
11cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
0 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 18 °CJF: 18 °CFM: 17 °CMA: 15 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 12 °CJJ: 12 °CJA: 12 °CAS: 13 °CSO: 14 °CON: 15 °CND: 17 °CD18 °C

Heating degree-days here run 50% 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: 29/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #21 largest oil power plant of 73 in Chile by capacity.

Chile has 73 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 2,931 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -28.4707, -71.2526 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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