Wind power plant in Coquimbo, Chile. Approximate location -29.3662, -71.0585.
WindCoquimboChileOnshore
PUNTA COLORADA is a 20 MW wind power plant in Coquimbo, Chile. It is operated by BARRICK CHILE GENERACION S.A.. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 17k homes (estimated). It ranks #185 of 336 Chile power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2012, it is around 14 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, wind supplies about 13.1% 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 CHL0002013.
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 (location L100000905552); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 20 MW, PUNTA COLORADA is below the median wind plant in Chile (46 MW). Technically it is described as Onshore. Wind turbines convert moving air into electricity; output is variable and site-dependent, and modern turbines deliver some of the lowest-cost new generation on many grids.
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 BARRICK CHILE GENERACION S.A..
This wind plant converts the kinetic energy of wind into electricity through turbine rotors. 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.
Monthly mean temperature
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.
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 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 #13 largest wind power plant of 18 in Chile by capacity.
Chile has 18 wind power plants in this dataset, together about 897 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -29.3662, -71.0585 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
PUNTA COLORADA is a 20 MW source-record wind power plant in Coquimbo, Chile, commissioned in 2012.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 17,019 homes (estimated).
PUNTA COLORADA is operated by BARRICK CHILE GENERACION S.A..
