Gas power plant in Valparaiso, Chile. Approximate location -32.9366, -71.3231.
GasValparaisoChileCCGT · HRSG
NEHUENCO is a 855 MW gas power station in Valparaiso, Chile. It is operated by COLBUN S.A.. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 963k homes (estimated). It ranks #5 of 336 Chile power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1999, it is around 27 years old — long-established. 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 CHL0000117.
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 tracker 2026 operating-unit sum (location L100000406557); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 855 MW, NEHUENCO 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 COLBUN S.A.. All plants by this company →
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 32.9°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 46% 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: 31/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
A gas turbine here also runs ~0% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).
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 a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with marine 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 #1 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 -32.9366, -71.3231 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
NEHUENCO is a 855 MW source-record gas power plant in Valparaiso, Chile, commissioned in 1999.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 962,974 homes (estimated).
NEHUENCO is operated by COLBUN S.A..
