• Seeking to contribute to the COP25, Generadoras de Chile held the second version of the "Good Practices for a More Sustainable Electric Future" Contest, supporting projects that contribute to mitigating climate change and, thereby, contribute to sustainable development.
• Initiatives related to hydro-tourism, optimization of water use, and a self-sustaining mini solar park were the winners this year.

Santiago, July 05, 2019. -   Fifteen projects related to lighting, parks, agriculture, tourism, education, among others, applied this year to the Competition.   The requirement for the programs was to have arisen from a participatory process and to demonstrate, quantitatively, their contribution to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

"As an association, we believe that it is important to make good practices that exist in the industry visible, since we are convinced that sharing initiatives motivates the industry as a whole to climb on board with sustainability ", commented Macarena Álvarez, Director of Community Affairs and Good Practices of Generadoras de Chile who heads this contest.

Three initiatives stood out due to their impact, coherence, contribution, participation, and originality. First place was for the Colbún Company’s Machicura Balneario, second place for Enel’s Water Management program in the Maule Basin, and third place was taken by the Pacific Hydro’s Mini Solar Park in Caleta Sierra.

Colbún's Machicura Balneario, in the Maule Region, seeks to promote the lakeside town as a tourist area in order to improve the quality of local life by showing the attractions of the area and generating jobs related to tourism. This is a model that seeks to insert a hydroelectric power project into a territory in such a way that it is capable of generating direct value for local communities. The Balneario is administered by the Municipality of Colbún and a participatory process was carried out during the development process.

Enel’s Water Management Program in the Maule basin, which arose within the framework of an agreement with the Maule River Monitoring Board, has allowed farmers to improve their growing conditions through an optimized use of water with the introduction of new irrigation technologies. This project includes a demonstration plot at the San Clemente Entre Ríos High School where students are trained as agricultural technicians.

Pacific Hydro´s Caleta Sierra Mini Solar Park, in the Coquimbo Region, arose during the early participation process that the company started with the support of the Ministry of Energy, where the need for a continuous and reliable electricity system based on renewable energies was identified and prioritized. It is a self-sustaining park, which is operated and maintained by the residents of the community.

The winning initiatives were selected by an external multidisciplinary jury, composed of the following people: Ricardo Irarrázabal, Undersecretary of Energy; Alejandra Candia, Undersecretary of Social Evaluation of the Ministry of Social Development; Carolina Urmeneta, Chief Climate Change Office of the Ministry of the Environment; Harman Idema, Ambassador of the Netherlands in Chile; Silvia Rucks, Resident Coordinator and Representative of the United Nations Development Program; María Eliana Arntz, Executive Director of the Casa de la Paz Foundation; and Javier Bazán, Sistema B Chile’s Head of Alliances and Commercial Projects.

The jury took into consideration various criteria such as the link with electric power, the contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, their originality and replicability, and the associativity of the process in a year marked by the development in Chile of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25).

"Although this is the second year we have held this contest, this year it is especially important in the framework of the COP25. It is a contribution of the electricity sector to the development of renewable energy projects, which involve their communities as good neighbors and contribute to the improvement of the quality of life in nearby towns," said Claudio Seebach, executive president of Generadoras de Chile.

During the upcoming months we will work on the development of audiovisual material of these initiatives, which will be presented in a seminar that will be held in October.

About Generadoras de Chile

The Association of Generators of Chile, created in 2011, is the guild that represents the generation companies that operate in Chile. The association is made up of a broad and diverse group of 13 companies that together produce more than 90% of the country's electric power. For this, its associates develop, build, and operate energy projects in all technologies present in Chile.

Its mission is to inspire and lead the energy transition by means of the promotion of public policies and good practices for the best use and generation of electric power, with the aim of advancing to a more electric Chile, with more efficient, renewable, reliable, and sustainable energy.

Its associates include AES Gener, AME, Cerro Dominador, Colbún, EDF, Enel, Engie, GPG, Latin America Power, Inkia Energy, Pacific Hydro, Prime Energía, and Statkraft.

Further information at: www.generadoras.cl