Gas power plant in Antofagasta, Chile. Approximate location -23.035092, -70.339933.
GasAntofagastaChileCCGT · HRSG
Kelar power station is a 517.4 MW gas power station in Antofagasta, Chile. It is operated by Tamakaya SpA [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 583k homes (estimated). It ranks #18 of 336 Chile power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2016, it is around 10 years old — relatively modern. In context, gas supplies about 15.3% 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 GOGPT_kelar_chile.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM · 2026 · L100000406552; fuel: GEM GOGPT
At 517.4 MW, Kelar power station is well above the median gas plant in Chile (379 MW). Technically it is described as CCGT; combined-cycle with a heat-recovery steam generator (HRSG). Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.
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 Tamakaya SpA [100%].
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 23.0°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 #7 largest gas power plant of 19 in Chile by capacity.
Chile has 19 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 6,512 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -23.035092, -70.339933 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Kelar power station is a 517.4 MW gas power plant in Antofagasta, Chile, commissioned in 2016.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 582,740 homes (estimated).
Kelar power station is operated by Tamakaya SpA [100%].
