Chile is cooking up an exciting renewable energy future, and the rest of Latin America is taking notes.
The country's ambitious green energy program, launched in 2019, has a bold goal: completely replace fossil fuels by 2040. And Chile is already making serious progress.
The crown jewel of Chile's energy revolution is its Cerro Dominador solar thermal tower. Standing at an impressive 240 meters, it's the only one of its kind in Latin America and one of only four solar thermal towers in the world. The tower harnesses the sun's power to generate clean electricity — no toxic pollutants required.
Surrounded by a sea of 10,600 mirrors, the tower is a sight to behold. These mirrors reflect sunlight onto the tower, heating solar salts to a scorching 565 degrees Celsius. The hot salts then flow down pipes to water tanks, generating steam to spin turbines and create electricity.
This desert oasis is also pioneering another game-changing project. Chile plans to transform an old coal plant into a massive renewable energy storage system using those same solar salts extracted from the Atacama Desert. When heated by the sun's rays, these salts can store energy for hours.
Thanks to these forward-thinking projects and others, over a third of Chile's energy already comes from renewable sources such as solar and wind — and that figure will only climb.
As coal plants get phased out, Chile plans to replace them with more solar thermal plants and batteries. Each one brings the country a step closer to its ambitious goal of getting rid of air-polluting carbon emissions for good, helping Latin America breathe better.
"Very few countries in the world have been able to truly consolidate a renewable energy industry like Chile," Marta Alonso, a director at Global Energy Services, told Euronews.
The South American nation has become a shining example for its neighbors and the world.
So, if you ever vacation in Chile, take a moment to admire the Cerro Dominador tower. It's not just an engineering marvel — it's a symbol of a brighter, cleaner future for us all. With Chile leading the charge, that future looks sunnier than ever.
"A decade ago, no one would have imagined that more than a third of Chile's energy would come from the sun and wind before 2030," said Marcelo Mena, Chile's former environment minister, per Euronews. "It was seen as something ambitious and it has already been surpassed."
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