- In Santiago Enel Chile, for the first time opened the Victoria Substation gates, located in 612 Victoria, a facility including the first milestones of electric power distribution in Chile, while in Los Molles, the company opened access to its hydroelectric plant through guided visits.
Santiago, May 25th, 2019 – The arrival of electric power to Chile, more than 100 years ago, changed the course of history, among other things, since it fostered the development of public transportation, thanks to the introduction of trams. The entity in charge of said task was the company of English origin, Chilean Electric Tramway and Light Company, currently Enel Distribución.
This history may be partly known in the Victoria Museum, which for the first time joined Heritage Day this year of 2019. On the site, dating from the end of the 19th century, many of the elements proper to the first years of electric power distribution are kept intact, coexisting with a center of operations and maintenance workshop which are still feeding the Santiago power grid.
Placing value on these facilities on the part of Enel is a great tribute to the country’s past, nourishing its visitors with exhibitions of equipment which are real relics, heritage items, work instruments and a large collection of photographs of the times.
“AS Enel, for us, the fact of having been able to carry out the valuation of the 612 Victoria Museum, is a milestone that really thrills us, because we understand it as a contribution to the history of Santiago, and of course, of Chile also. To be able to see the work and development of electrification of the city and the country, through the elements and photographs exhibited in the museum, is something that really inspires us to continue working towards electric power development in Chile”, stated Paolo Pallotti, general manager for Enel Chile.
The activity is also framed within a large project for the rescue of the history of electric power in Chile, developed by Enel Chile and the Procultura Foundation, which contemplated the digitizing of a heritage photographic record, formed by 19,389 images belonging to the institutional historical archive of Enel Distribución, that since Thursday, May 23rd, is available in the facilities of the National Library.
“Having access to electricity in the city is something that currently is taken for granted, however, this technological advance was one of the great revolutions in urban life worldwide. In Chile, the arrival of electric power lighting was a historical milestone, and to have the possibility of learning about its origins and development along time is a gift for the people. The Victoria Museum safeguards an important chapter of Chile’s history and heritage”, comments Alberto Larraín, executive director of the ProCultura Foundation.
Los Molles:
Located in the region of Coquimbo, Central Los Molles, is a great work of engineering, located inside Ovalle. Its construction begins in 1947 and five years later, in 1952, it became operational, within the frame of electrification of the country during the Government of President Gabriel González Videla. This hydroelectric power plant is one of the oldest in the country. By means of this activity we seek the valuing of the history of electrification in Chile, and further still, the valuing of all Chileans that have contributed with their labor to electric power generation.