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LOS ESPINOS

Oil power plant in Coquimbo, Chile. Approximate location -31.883, -71.4503.

OilCoquimboChile

LOS ESPINOS is a 124 MW oil power station in Coquimbo, Chile. It is operated by TERMOELECTRICA LOS ESPINOS S.A.. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 93,106 homes (estimated). It ranks #45 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).

124MW installed capacity
93,106homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CHL0000076.

~244,404 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

56,971passenger cars driven for a year
31,873homes' yearly energy use
4,073,400tree 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 TERMOELECTRICA LOS ESPINOS S.A..

Local climate & thermal context

This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 31.9°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

14.7°Cannual mean temp
1,263heating degree-days (base 18°C)
49cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
415 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 19 °CJF: 19 °CFM: 17 °CMA: 15 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 11 °CJJ: 11 °CJA: 11 °CAS: 12 °CSO: 14 °CON: 16 °CND: 18 °CD19 °C

Heating degree-days here run 49% 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: 30/100 — 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 #7 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 -31.883, -71.4503 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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