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SAN IGNACIO

Hydro power plant in Maule, Chile. Approximate location -35.6146, -71.5413.

HydroMauleChile

SAN IGNACIO is a 37 MW hydro power plant in Maule, Chile. It is operated by COLBUN S.A.. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 37,042 homes (estimated). It ranks #125 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).

37MW installed capacity
37,042homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CHL0001119.

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 COLBUN S.A.. All plants by this company →

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 35.6°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

13.2°Cannual mean temp
1,863heating degree-days (base 18°C)
108cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
303 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 20 °CJF: 19 °CFM: 16 °CMA: 13 °CAM: 10 °CMJ: 8 °CJJ: 7 °CJA: 8 °CAS: 10 °CSO: 13 °CON: 16 °CND: 19 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 24% 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: 41/100 — 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 #32 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 -35.6146, -71.5413 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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