In Chile, Solar, Wind Energy Competes with Natural Gas

In Chile, Solar, Wind Energy Competes with Natural Gas

The South American country of Chile likes to present itself as a worldwide leader on climate change.

Nearly 22 percent of Chile's electricity comes from solar and wind energy production centers. That is a higher percentage than the United States with 13 percent. The world average is 10 percent. In 2008, Chile was also one of the first countries to declare a target for renewable energy.

However, imported natural gas, a fossil fuel like coal and oil, has continued because of a favorable supply deal won from the government.

Marcelo Mena is a former environment minister for Chile. He leads Global Methane¹ Hub. The nonprofit group aims to reduce methane emissions² around the world.

Mena said natural gas is basically methane. "They're actually hindering the power that we can deliver from renewable energy," Mena told the Associated Press. "It's been more of an opposition³ towards 100 percent renewable target."

Mena said renewable energy is being pushed out by fossil fuels in northern Chile. "At the same time, in the south of Chile, there is a big lack of natural gas for heating and people are heating themselves with wood and choking on it," said Mena.

Transition to renewable energy

The shock that led to the development of renewable energy in Chile came in the mid-2000s. At that time, Argentina greatly reduced gas exports to Chile to serve its own market. Chileans had limited electricity and power outages happened a lot.

Chile receives some of them most consistent sunshine in the world, especially in the northern Atacama Desert. So, the country sought investment in solar and wind projects. Chile requires electricity companies to offer a minimum amount of renewable energy.

Developers built hundreds of solar and wind plants. They also built systems that get energy from the Earth's heat, called geothermal plants. These energy centers were placed throughout the country, which stretches 4,300 kilometers from north to south.

The government also invested in fossil fuel plants. Natural gas importers and owners of gas plants successfully argued that the power grid⁴ must take their electricity.

The importers must pay for gas under international contracts whether they need it or not. Under government regulations, they can declare electricity from gas imports "forced gas." That means electricity produced from gas is favored in the power market which also supports renewables.

Ana Lía Rojas leads the Chilean Association of Renewable Energies and Storage. She said the rule "is a loss for the environment and for the energy transition."

Another result of forcing electricity produced from gas into the market is that it lowers electricity prices for all providers.

Alfredo Solar is a solar plant supervisor⁵. He said, "I have worked in solar plants that, for example, were in default because the market price was much lower than what was projected." The term default means that they could not pay their debts. Solar providers, he said, operate without contracts and depend on market prices.

Last year, the Chilean government changed the rules for natural gas providers. Their electricity still enters the power grid at a reduced price. But it is not supposed to displace renewable energy. Supporters of renewables in Chile say the changes are not enough.

Large electricity storage systems are too costly⁶ to be widely used in Chile, said Daniel Salazar. He is a former executive director of Chile's northern power grid who is now with the business advice firm EnergiE. He said gas remains⁷ a low-cost way to deal with the nation's energy problems.

By 2030, solar producers could provide 30 percent of all electricity in Chile. The Association of Power Generators⁸ says that will make it the nation's largest source of power.

Words in This Story

hinder –v. to make an action slow or difficult

deliver –v. to provide

choke –v. to be unable to breathe

consistent –adj. to continue to happen or develop in the same way

minimum –adj. to least or lowest amount possible

power grid –n. a network of lines, structures and equipment that carry electricity from where it is produced to the places that use it

transition –n. a change from one condition to another

1 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

2 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

5 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》