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PUNTA COLORADA

Oil power plant in Coquimbo, Chile. Approximate location -29.3668, -71.0429.

OilCoquimboChile

PUNTA COLORADA is a 17 MW oil power plant in Coquimbo, Chile. It is operated by CIA. BARRICK CHILE GENERACION LTDA. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 12,464 homes (estimated). It ranks #174 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).

17MW installed capacity
12,464homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CHL0000080.

~32,719 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

7,627passenger cars driven for a year
4,267homes' yearly energy use
545,310tree 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 CIA. BARRICK CHILE GENERACION LTDA.

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 29.4°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

13.2°Cannual mean temp
1,751heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
0 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 17 °CJF: 17 °CFM: 15 °CMA: 13 °CAM: 11 °CMJ: 10 °CJJ: 10 °CJA: 10 °CAS: 11 °CSO: 13 °CON: 15 °CND: 16 °CD17 °C

Heating degree-days here run 29% 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: 39/100 — this site sits in the mid 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 #29 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 -29.3668, -71.0429 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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