The President of the Republic of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, with the Minister of Energy, Susana Jiménez, unveiled at the end of May the “Energy Route”, a road map that will guide the Government’s work in the energy market
He also commented that in terms of energy, “Chile cannot stop having a leadership, because of our natural conditions, we have the comparative advantages to be a leader in the generation of new energies and also in the generation of new technologies to produce those new energies. ”
The President called for the development of unconventional solutions, not to renounce the hydroelectric potential of the country, and to increase the power generation capacity.
The Energy Route was built through a participatory process with 2,200 people from the 15 regional capitals of the country, and has seven strategic axes: energy modernization, energy with social seal, energy development, low emission energy, sustainable transport, energy efficiency , and energy education and training.
The President asked the Minister of Energy to work with special emphasis on 11 mega-commitments:
- Raise a map of the country’s energy vulnerability, identifying families that do not have electricity and other energy services.
- Modernize the energy institutional framework, in particular the Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels (SEC) and the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission (CChEn).
- Reduce by 25% the time of environmental processing of projects that benefit from the Plan + Energy, with respect to the deadlines registered in the last four years.
- Reach four times the current capacity of renewable small-scale distributed generation (less than 300 KW) by 2022.
- Increase by at least 10 times the number of electric vehicles that circulate in our country.
- Modernize the regulation of electrical distribution through a participatory process.
- Regulate solid biofuels such as firewood and its derivatives, granting the Ministry of Energy the necessary powers to establish technical specifications and the application regulations for the commercialization of firewood in urban areas.
- Establish a regulatory framework for energy efficiency that generates the necessary incentives to promote the efficient use of energy in the sectors of greater consumption (industry and mining, transport and buildings), and create a true energy culture in the country.
- Start the process of decarbonisation of the energy matrix through the preparation of a timetable for the withdrawal or reconversion of coal-fired plants, and the introduction of concrete measures in electromobility.
- Train 6,000 workers, technicians and professionals, developing skills and abilities in the management and sustainable use of energy, in the electricity, fuel and renewable energy sectors, certifying at least 3,000.
- Move forward with strength in regional energy integration.
The focus of the Energy Route will be to bring energy modernization to every corner of Chile, closing the existing access gaps and bringing all Chileans closer to technology and digitalization, fostering an energy culture.
