Among the mentioned energy-saving solutions that have been announced by the Minister of Chilean Energy Ministry Mr. Marcelo Tokman, there were solutions of prolonging summer time to March 29 in order to utilize solar energy, adjusting the regulations of using water in 2 main reservoirs of the country, popularizing energy-saving lights, reducing by 5% of electricity consumption in Government’s offices and disseminating to raise people’s awareness related to power saving.
According to the designed capacity, in Chile, hydropower plants supply 60% of power while gas-fired, diesel-fired or coal-fired thermal power plants provide the remaining 40%. Last year was one the driest years in this South American country during the last 50 years owing to the lack of rain which caused hydropower companies to operate ineffectively. As anticipated, the situation of this year will be more optimistic.
Meanwhile, from 2004, gasoline supplied by Argentina has decreased from 16-20 million m3/day to 1 million m3/day or even 0 m3/day. Due to the shortage of gasoline, thermopower plants had to use diesel, thus electricity price was much higher. Currently, Chile is the Latin American nation which has the highest power production cost in Latin America.
From Vietnam News Agency