Coal power plant in Biobio, Chile. Approximate location -37.042, -73.13.
CoalBiobioChilesubcritical
SANTA MARIA is a 350 MW coal power station in Biobio, Chile. It is operated by COLBUN S.A.. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 438k homes (estimated). It ranks #29 of 336 Chile power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2012, it is around 14 years old — relatively modern. In context, coal supplies about 17.8% 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 CHL0000070.
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 L100000100197); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 350 MW, SANTA MARIA is below the median coal plant in Chile (478 MW). Technically it is described as subcritical. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.
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 coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 37.0°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 8% 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.
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 #12 largest coal power plant of 22 in Chile by capacity.
Chile has 22 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 12,437 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -37.042, -73.13 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
SANTA MARIA is a 350 MW source-record coal power plant in Biobio, Chile, commissioned in 2012.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 438,000 homes (estimated).
SANTA MARIA is operated by COLBUN S.A..
