Chilean Plant Running at 33% of Total Capacity after Last Week's Major Quake

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 that struck northern Chile on November 14, 2007, was felt strongly at Empresa Nacional de Electricidad S.A.'s (NYSE:EOC) (Endesa) central Atacama thermoelectric plant, leaving structural damage that is being repaired by the plants maintenance division.

The 740-megawatt (MW) Atacama plant, operated by Endesa, consists of two 370-MW combined-cycle units, each composed of two gas turbines (GE 9Emodel), two heat recovery boilers and one Alstom steam turbine. The plant is in Region II of Chile, north of Antofagasta in the city of Mejillones, just near the quake's epicenter. The earthquake was centered 63 miles west-northwest of Calama, Chile, and 783 miles north of the Chilean capital of Santiago. It was also felt in Bolivia's capital, La Paz, and in neighboring Peru.

Currently, only one gas turbine of each combined-cycle unit is generating electricity, supplying a total of 249 MW. This supply situation will remain tight until repairs are completed in the rest of the units -- which, according to plant officials, presented cracks and fissures in addition to structural damages in the plant's pump house. The completion date for repairs has not been set.

The earthquake, which lasted about 50 seconds, closed roads, toppled power lines and caused power outages in the region, leading to a collapse of the northern power grid, which remained offline for about five hours.

Several aftershocks followed, leaving thousands homeless, two people dead and more than 150 injured. In addition, Tocopilla's main hospital was seriously damaged and needs to be reconstructed. No damage was reported in Edelnors Central Mejillones (590 MW) and Tocopilla (971 MW) located in northern Antofagasta.

View Plant Profile - 1034389

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading marketing information services company for the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy-related markets throughout the world. For more than 24 years, IIR has provided accurate and timely intelligence through products such as plant and project information databases, focused market databases, industry forecasting, key industry contacts, industry and territorial map products, direct marketing services and applications, and daily industry news.