Home / South America / Chile / RENAICO

RENAICO

Hydro power plant in Araucania, Chile. Approximate location -37.8138, -72.4155.

HydroAraucaniaChile

RENAICO is a 6 MW hydro power plant in Araucania, Chile. It is operated by MAINCO S.A.. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 6,006 homes (estimated). It ranks #238 of 315 Chile power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 22.2% of Chile's electricity; the national grid averages 289 gCO₂/kWh (66.4% low-carbon) (2025).

6MW installed capacity
6,006homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CHL0001109.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Chile

RALCO: 690 MW690RALCOPEHUENCHE: 570 MW570PEHUENCHECOLBUN: 474 MW474COLBUNPANGUE: 467 MW467PANGUEEL TORO: 450 MW450EL TORORAPEL: 378 MW378RAPELANGOSTURA: 324 MW324ANGOSTURAANTUCO: 320 MW320ANTUCO

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by MAINCO S.A..

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 37.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

11.8°Cannual mean temp
2,279heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
308 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 18 °CJF: 17 °CFM: 15 °CMA: 12 °CAM: 9 °CMJ: 7 °CJJ: 7 °CJA: 7 °CAS: 9 °CSO: 11 °CON: 14 °CND: 16 °CD18 °C

Heating degree-days here run 7% 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: 47/100 — 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 #65 largest hydro power plant of 99 in Chile by capacity.

Chile has 99 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 6,410 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -37.8138, -72.4155 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.