Central Santa Elena

The Santa Elena plant is located in a remote area in the Araucanía region. The hydropower plant reduces the need for energy transportation over hundreds of kilometers in these remote places, and also avoids higher costs from losses in energy.

FACTS

Location

Araucanía, Chile

Technology

Hydropower

Attributes

Environmental/ Local impact

Producing electricity since

2018

Developer/owner

Inverges Chile

Estimated annual generation

12.5 GWh

Total capacity

2.70 MW

The Santa Elena plant is located in a remote area in the Araucanía region, far from any other energy production centres. The plant produces sustainable energy from a small local river named Estero la Gaviota. The Santa Elena plant also improves the quality of the local energy by reducing the need for energy transportation over hundreds of kilometers in these remote places, avoiding higher costs from losses in energy.

The Araucanía Region is one of Chile’s 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Temuco. In the beginning of the 20th century, the population of Araucanía grew considerably, so did the economy. The region became one of the principal agricultural districts of Chile, gaining the nickname of “granary of Chile”.

Inverges is a Chilean company with headquarters located in the biggest city in Chile, Santiago.

Araucaria araucana, the national tree of Chile

Native to the Chilean south-central Andes in the Araucania region, the Araucaria Aruncana tree is the national tree of Chile. The tree is commonly called the monkey puzzle tree, monkey trail tree or Chilean pine. The Araucaria Aruncana is also called a living fossil because of the prevalence of similar species in ancient prehistory. Its conservation status was changed to Endangered by the IUCN in 2013 due to the dwindling population caused by logging, forest fires and grazing. With his diameter that can grow up to 1-1.5 m and his height up to 30-40 m, the Araucaria Aruncana tree is very recognizable, hence being the national tree of Chile. Now cultivated in other parts of the world, the Araucaria Aruncana tree represents the Araucania region and Chile wherever it goes.