New climate commitments to boost Chile’s renewables sector

Chile’s updated nationally determined contributions (INDC) to the Paris Climate Agreement include new quantifiable goals for the energy, construction and transport sectors. Under the new goals, the country will move faster toward a cleaner energy matrix and more sectors will use electric power instead of fossil fuels. The goals maintain the commitment to retire all coal-powered plants by 2040. Coal represented 37% of total power generation in 2019, more than any other technology. Most of the retired capacity will be replaced with renewable power. Many of the country’s energy goals include using more electric power for heating, transport and industry, among others, so the coal-retirement plan is key because the power matrix needs to be as clean as possible for Chile to meet it emissions targets. The government expects 70% of generation to come from non-conventional renewable plants by 2030.