Rio Grande S.A. Submits Environmental Documentation for Coal-Fired Power Plant in Chile

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Power generating company Rio Grande SA (Santiago, Chile), a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Cross Group (Buenos Aires, Argentina), submitted the Environmental Impact Studies (EIA) documentation on February 25 for a grassroot, 700-megawatt (MW) pulverized coal-fired power plant, which is to be in the city of Coronel, in Chile's Bio-Bio region.

The facility, named Central Termoelectrica RG Generacion, will be equipped with two 350-MW condensing steam turbines and will be connected to the Central Interconnected Grid (SIC) at a rate of 220 kilovolts (kV). According to the Chilean environmental authority schedule, the permitting process should end in August 2010, and by the beginning of 2015, the power plant should be fully operational. The estimated investment amounts to $1.4 billion, generating 2,300 jobs during the construction, and 93 when the facility begins operating.

The main objective of this project is to stabilize the energy supply of the SIC during the dry season, as the Central Interconnected System relays heavily on hydropower generation. The plant is a response to Chile's growing electricity demand, replacing fossil-derivate fuels, which are limited in Chile and have a higher cost than coal.

RG Generacion will be the third coal-fired thermo power plant in Coronel, after the 350-MW Colbun SA power plant (Santiago, Chile) and the Bocamina Power Plant, owned by Endesa Chile (NYSE:EOC) (Santiago, Chile), with one 128-MW operating unit and one 350-MW unit to be operational in the third quarter of 2010.

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