Chile's Colbun, Codelco accept replace coal with renewables in PPA

• Chilean utility Colbun SA has renegotiated the terms of a decade-plus old power purchase agreement (PPA) with state-owned copper miner Codelco to gradually replace the contracted supply of coal-based electricity with 100% renewables.

Under the new terms, Colbun will gradually introduce renewable power into the delivery as well as finalise the change to a 100% renewables-based supply on December 31, 2025. Afterwards date, the Chilean mining company will certainly begin receiving 1,000 GWh of clean and also emissions-free power per year, Colbun claimed.

The contract will certainly be in force until 2044.

Colbun has only one coal-fired power plant in operation, which is the 350-MW Santa Maria station located in the Chilean region of Biobio. The plant went into operation in 2012.

Colbun's generation profile is mainly based on hydro power, with few thermal nuclear power plant and also non-conventional renewables in commercial operation. The company is currently functioning to include more wind, solar and also battery storage space to its portfolio, with plans to develop more than 4,000 MW of renewables by 2030, it added.