• General State of the Economy
• Energy Resources
• Energy Balance
• Energy Infrastructure
• Education and Innovation
• Ecology and Environment Protection
• References

Source: [1,2,3,4,5]

Chile’s economy is one of the fastest growing in Latin America. Export of goods and services makes up one third of the volume of GDP; copper exports alone provide 20% of revenues [3]. Economic indices of Chile are shown on the diagram below, and the majority of indicators are in the upper part of the chart, indicating a high level of economic development of the country.
Between 2009 and 2023 the country experienced a steady growth of GDP at purchasing power parity, both in general and per capita [4,5]. In 2023 GDP at PPP was 579.201 billion dollars (44^th in the world) [3]. GDP at purchasing power parity per capita is significantly lower (79^th in 2023), demonstrating positive dynamics: from $23,300 in 2020 to $29,500 in 203 [3]. Inflation in Chile in 2023 was at 7.6%, a slight decrease from 11.64% in 2022 [3].
The Global Competitiveness Report, presented by the World Economic Forum, reflects the effectiveness of the use of the country’s own resources for sustainable development. In addition to numerous economic indicators this index also takes into account such variables as education, health, level of innovation, etc.
According to the Index of Economic Freedom 2024, which is based on business freedom, freedom from government action, protection of property, and freedom from corruption, Chile was 21^st, ahead of Peru. Chile's public debt as a percentage of GDP was 13.1% in 2022.

Chile has insignificant reserves of fossil fuels (Table. 1). In terms of tons of oil equivalent, proved reserves of conventional hydrocarbons in Chile are: coal – 88.4%, natural gas – 9.4%, oil – 2.2% (Figure 5).
Proved oil reserves in Chile [6], at the end of 2021 were estimated at 200 million barrels, while proven reserves of natural gas amounted to 3.5 Tcf.
According to [3], in 2021 proven oil reserves, totalled 150 million barrels, and 97.97 Bcm of natural gas.

Table 1. Fossil energy resources of Chile

*share of the country’s reserves in world total is provided in brackets
**unproved technically recoverable

Coal reserves are mainly concentrated in the central and southern part of the country, and according to [6] in 2022 were estimated at 1302 million short tons.
In addition to the small reserves of conventional hydrocarbon resources, the country has shale gas reserves and tight oil reserves (Table 1). There have been also gas hydrate occurrences discovered in the central part of the country on the Сhilean continental margin (Figure 5).
In Chile, there is a certain potential for the development of some types of renewable energy. A selection of basic indicators of this type of resource is presented in Table 2. The level of direct solar radiation in Chile is relatively high in the northern part of the country. The highest level of solar radiation level can be observed in the north-east of the country on the border with Bolivia and Argentina - over 9.5 kWh/m2/day. In the central part of the country, from Copiapo to Puerto Montt and along the coast, the level of direct solar radiation drops from 6.8 to <5.5 kWh/m²/day. In the south of the country these figures are even lower [8].
The distribution of wind resources is as follows: in the north and in the central part of the country the average annual wind speed is between 4.8-6.4 m/sec [8]. The maximum registered wind speed was in the south-western coastal areas of the country, where it may exceed 8.5 m/sec (at a height of 50 m.) [9]. It should be noted that this is one of the windiest places on the planet.
More than 24.5% of Chile is forested with 21.1% covered by agricultural land [10,11]. This resource has the potential to play a valuable role in energy production.

Table 2. Renewable energy resources of Chile

*for most of the territory of the country
**gross theoretical hydropower potential

Most Chilean rivers belong to the basin of the Pacific Ocean. The Huasco, the Limar, and the Rapel are relatively full-flowing and are widely used for irrigation and power generation [12].
Gross theoretical hydropower potential of the country amounts to 162 GWh/year, which in comparison with other countries of Latin America appears small, and for this indicator only Uruguay has a lower figure in the region [13].

CHILE, SANTO DOMINGO
Latitude: -33.65, Longitude: -71.62

Average daily sky coverage over 10 years of observations, %

CLR - clear, SCT - scattered from 1/8 TO 4/8, BKN - broken from 5/8 TO 7/8, OVC - overcast, OBS - obscured, POB - partial obscuration

Source: based on NOAA U.S. Department of Commerce
Detailed information: Interactive map of solar resources

CHILE, SANTO DOMINGO
Latitude: -33.65, Longitude: -71.62
Average speed: 2.74 m/s, Operational share: 47%

Average daily wind speed for 10 years of observations, m/s, 10 m above the ground

Source: based on NOAA U.S. Department of Commerce
Detailed information: Interactive map of wind resources  

In the south of Chile, there is a significant potential for tidal energy, which can reach 60 kW/m [14].This energy review of Chile would not be complete without mentioning municipal waste (1.15 kg per capita per day), which in many countries has become a significant source of energy [15].

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Sep 2024)/ www.eia.gov

Figure 2. The production and consumption of fossil fuels in Chile (coal – left, gas – in the center, oil – right)

Chile has a relatively high share of conventional resources in the production of electricity (Fig. 3).
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (Fig.6) in 2023, the country produced about 90.54 TWh of electricity, of which 34.3% was by thermal power plants, 30.2% by hydroelectric power plants and 35.5% by other renewable energy sources.

Chile’s position in the comparative diagram of energy index is shown in Figure 4. Three indices based on production-consumption indicators of fossil fuels, are located at the bottom of the chart. Also, Chile has a large imbalance between production and consumption of oil and gas.

In terms of the share of electricity production from renewable energy sources (excluding hydropower), Chile is 56^th among 170 countries selected for consideration. When considering the GDP per unit of energy use, Chile is 30^th out of 66 countries surveyed, which is slightly above the world average, while energy consumption per capita is much lower – 41^st out of 66 countries. In terms of electricity consumption per capita, the country is 70^th in the world, however, for the indicator of combination of electricity production-consumption, Chile is 65^th in the ranked list of 216 countries.

A territorial map of the distribution of the largest infrastructure projects of the fossil fuel sector in Chile is shown in Figure 5.
As mentioned above, the coal reserves amount to more than 80% of the energy potential of mineral resources. The main coal extraction fields are located in the central part and in the south of the country, in the Biobio region, Los Rios and Magallanes. According to [20,21], the largest coal extraction fields are Catamutun and Mina Invierno.
The oil and gas fields are concentrated in the Magallanes oil basin basin district [22].
Three types of oil pipelines connect the oil fields with the major refineries: pipelines for crude oil with a total length of 985 km, oil pipelines for the transportation of petroleum products with a length of 722 km; and pipelines for gas condensate, 781 km long (Figure 5).

                                           Figure 5. Basic infrastructural facilities of the fossil fuel sector in Chile (click on the map to view a PDF version)

Chilean refineries process about 61.9 million barrels of oil annually. The National Petroleum Company (ENAP) manages three refineries, the largest of which is the Bio Bio, with an installed capacity of 116 thousand bbl/day [18].
The key oil terminals are the Bahia San Vicente, which is also part of the Bio Bio refinery, and Quintero Bay (Figure 5).
Major storage facilities are concentrated in the central part and in the south of the country, and have a total capacity of 22 million barrels [23].
Natural gas processing plants are also concentrated in the central part of the country. Pemuco natural gas processing plant has an installed capacity of 600 000 m³/day, which can be doubled depending on the demand [24].
Major LNG import terminals are located in Quintero s Bay (Valparaiso Region) and the Bay of Mejillones (Antofagasta Region). The main LNG exporters to Chile are Trinidad and Tobago, Equatorial Guinea, and New Zealand [18]. Gas transportation between the LNG terminals, gas processing plants and power plants is carried out by pipelines with total length of 3160 km.
Figure 6 shows the most important facilities in Chile producing electrical energy.
There are four electrical grids in Chile, with a total installed capacity of 22 031 MW - SING (22.8%) SIC (76.4%) SEA (0.3%) SEM (0.5%) [18]. The share of fossil fuels in electricity production prevails in Chile and in 2022 was about 43.4%; approximately 25.3% comes from hydropower and 31.3% from other renewable energy sources (Figure 6). In the first case, the power generation is carried out mainly by coal (40%) and hydrocarbons [17]. The country has a significant generating capacity, including some very large facilities: 6 coal plants with a capacity of more than 300 MW, 6 combined power plants with capacity of more than 200 MW, and six oil power plants over 120 MW (Figure 6).

                                             Figure 6. Electricity production in Chile (click on the map to view a PDF version)

The largest coal-fired plant is Ventanas, with a capacity of more than 885 MW. The largest oil power plant is Taltal, with a capacity of 240 MW [25,26]. The leader among combined power plants is Tocopilla, with a capacity of more than 1 GW, and the largest gas power plant is Atacama, with an installed capacity of over 780 MW [27].
In 2023, hydropower generated about 27.3 TWh [6]. There are about 114 hydroelectric power plants in Chile, the largest of which is the Ralco, with a capacity of 690 MW [27].
In Figure 7, you can see the main facilities of the Chilean infrastructure for the production of energy from renewable resources.
As noted above, renewable energy in Chile, excluding hydropower, becomes more and more important for the production of the main types of energy. Thus, the total production of electricity in 2023 from renewable sources, with the exception of hydropower, was 32.17 TWh, and was dominated by solar energy, followed by wind energy and bioenergy (Figure 7).

                                             Figure 7. Renewable energy in Chile (click on the map to view a PDF version)

Bioenergy has been actively developing in Chile, and as of 2017 its capacity was estimated at 473 MW [28]. Nationwide, there are enterprises for processing biomass, biogas, pellets, and LFG (landfill gas).
BIOENERGIA FORESTAL S.A. manages the largest biomass processing enterprise Sante Fe, with an installed capacity of more than 67.2 MW [27].
Landfill gas enterprise Loma Los Colorados, with an installed capacity of 18.2 MW, managed by KDM ENERGIA S.A., recycles about 60% of the capital's municipal waste and provides electricity for about 75 000 Chilean households [27,29].
The Andes Bio-Pellets company successfully applies modern technologies to produce about 50 million tons of pellets per year at its Santa Barbara technology plant [30].
As mentioned above, the level of solar radiation in the central and northern parts of the country can reach 9.5 kWh/m² per day, and the wind speed exceeds 8.5 m/s, which is a tangible resource for energy production. As a consequence, there is a large number of renewable energy facilities located in the area. The largest solar station is El Romero with an installed capacity of 246 MW, and largest wind park will be Cabo Leones, with 319.5 MW [31,32]. One of the most promising areas for the development of concentrating solar power technologies is in the north of Chile, and several stations are at the development or construction stage.
Atacama-1 CSP tower type station in the Antofagasta area will have a capacity of 110 MW using thermo solar technology; a second station, CSP Parabolic type Minera el Tesoro, has a capacity of 10 MW [33,34]. Since 2013, there has been a significant increase in solar power installed capacity making 41% of all renewable capacity, including hydropower, in 2023 [28].
Southern regions with the highest wind speed are less populated, and that fact slows down the development of renewable energy.
The Chilean Government has adopted a National Energy Strategy 2050 (Política energetica de Chile 2050), which is primarily focused on increasing the share of renewable energy in electricity production and the diversification of energy sources. As of December 30^th 2016, 54 power plants were under construction, which was equivalent to 2 727 MW (the size of the investment totalled 8.5 billion US dollars); while in March 2014 there were 28 plants under construction, which was equivalent to 1 949 MW (an investment of 5.9 billion US dollars). The aim is to increase hydropower capacity (992 MW) and solar energy capacity (792 MW). In December 2016, 56 new energy projects with a total capacity of 5 078 MW were approved [35].

According to the number of patents granted to residents of Chile, both inside the country and abroad, the country ranks 46^th in the world. Similarly, by the number of patents in force, the country is 45^th in the world, which largely characterizes the country's patent attractiveness.
It also has relatively high indexes associated with the assessment of the number of publications in scientific and technological journals. As such, in the Scimago ranking, Chile is 45^th out of 234 participating countries, and in the ranking of Scientific and Journal Activities it is 45^th out of 197 countries.
Universities such as the University of Antofagasta, Universidad Diego Portales, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Universidad de La Concepcion, and the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso train specialists in various fields of energy, including Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, etc.

Catholic University - Santiago, Chile. Envato Elements. 53WKJAH2NE

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso conducts active research and development in the field of shale gas, gas hydrates, coal bed methane, synthetic fuels, concentrated solar power and production of hydrocarbons from low-permeability reservoirs. Centro de Investigacion en Polimeros Avanzados (CIPA) conducts research in the field of biotechnology.

According to the forest area as a percentage of land area, Chile is not among the world leaders, but the trend associated with its change looks very positive. In this ranking Chile is third, after China, Australia and India. Chile also has a relatively high valuation in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2024, and is 60^th out of 180 participating countries. This index primarily focuses on the environmental performance of national governments aimed at reducing the negative impact of the environment and rational use of natural resources.
According to the Environmental Vulnerability Index, based on years of observations of 50 indicators, including, for example, changing climatic characteristics or the quality of water resources, waste volumes, etc., Chile is 93^rd, and is characterized as "vulnerable" along with, for example, Venezuela. Chile also belongs to a group of countries with very high levels of methane emissions. The Ecological Footprint Atlas rating complements the overall negative picture, according to which Chile is among the ecological debtors.

[1] List of sovereign states and dependencies by area / Wikipedia / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_area
[2] List of countries and dependencies by population density / Wikipedia / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density
[3] Сhile / The world factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency / www.cia.gov
[4] GDP, PPP (constant 2011 international $) / World Bank, International Comparison Program database. License : CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / www.worldbank.org
[5] GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)/ World Bank, International Comparison Program database .License : CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / www.worldbank.org
[6] Reserves and Capacity / U.S. Energy Information Administration  / www.eia.gov/beta/international/
[7] World Shale Resource Assessments / U.S. Energy Information Administration (September 24, 2015) / www.eia.gov
[8] Solar resource data obtained from the Global Solar Atlas, owned by the World Bank Group and provided by Solargis / Global Solar Athlas / globalsolaratlas.info
[9] Wind Map / Global Wind Atlas 2.0, a free, web-based application developed, owned and operated by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in partnership with the World Bank Group, utilizing data provided by Vortex, with funding provided by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). For additional information: globalwindatlas.info
[10] Agricultural land (% of land area) / Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site. Li-cense : CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / www.worldbank.org
[11] Forest area (% of land area) /Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.License : CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / www.worldbank.org
[12] List of rivers of Chile / Wikipedia / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_of_Chile
[13] 2013 Survey of Energy Resources (PDF) / World Energy Council / www.worldenergy.org/
[14] Wave power / Wikipedia / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_power
[15] World Bank What a Waste / Data / The World Bank / www.worldbank.org
[16] Statistical Review of World Energy 2024 (PDF) / www.energyinst.org
[17] Chile / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Dec 2016) / www.eia.gov/beta/international/analysis.php
[18] 2023 Energy Statistical Yearbook Chile (PDF) / Comision Nacional de Energia /
www.cne.cl
[19] International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration /http://www.eia.gov/beta/international/
[20] Catamutun / Wikipedia / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamut%C3%BAn
[21] Mina Invierno / Wikipedia / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mina_Invierno
[22] Chile seeks partners for 21 mature fields / Jan 17th, 2000 / Oil & Gas Journal / www.ogj.com
[23] Oil & Gas Security – Chile 2012 Report (PDF) / International Energy Agency / www.iea.org
[24] Chile: ENAP Opens Pemuco LNG Plant / 30 June 2011 / LNG World News / www.lngworldnews.com
[25] Kraftwerk Ventanas / Wikipedia / de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraftwerk_Ventanas
[26] Taltal OCGT Power Plant Chile / Global Energy Observatory / globalenergyobservatory.org
[27] Centrales / Estadisticas / Energia Abierta / datos.energiaabierta.cl
[28] Chile / IRENA / resourceirena.irena.org
[29] 8.4 MW Upgrade to Biogas Power Facility at Chile’s Largest Landfill / 30/04/2012 / Waste Management World / www.waste-management-world.com
[30] Nuestra Empresa / Andes Bio-Pellets / www.andesbiopellets.cl
[31] El Romero Solar PV Plant / Acciona Energia / www.acciona-energia.com
[32] Ibereólica finances Chilean wind farm / Guia Chile Energia / www.guiachileenergia.cl
[33] About Atacama-1 / Description /Abengoa Solar / www.abengoa.com
[34] Minera El Tesoro brings South America’s first concentrated solar thermal plant / Helio SCP / helioscsp.com
[35] Proyectos en Construcción e Inversión en sector Energía a diciembre 2016 / Ministerio de Energia / www.energia.gob.cl

The sources of charts and curves are specified under the images.  

For more information about the energy industry in Chile see here