- Also, Enel Chile opened the Santiago Victoria Substation to the community.
Santiago, May 25th, 2019 – Within the frame of the Heritage Day and thanks to an agreement between Enel Chile and the Procultura Foundation, with the support of the Municipality of Monte Patria, for the first time, the gates of the Los Molles Hydroelectric Power Plant, in the Region of Coquimbo, shall be open to the community.
The Los Molles Hydroelectric Power Plant is a great work of engineering located 81 kilometers east of Ovalle. Its construction began in 1947 and five years later, in 1952 it began operations, 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, with a total capacity of 18MW.
Camilo Ossandón, mayor of Monte Patria valued the carrying out of this activity, indicating at the same time that “it is very important to continue promoting this type of initiatives which allow valuing a physical space, an infrastructure which is not only part of the history of our country, but which also continues contributing to the development of the county, through the generation of clean energy. We thank the organizers and wish to continue progressing jointly with Enel in order for these spaces to become much more public and more beneficial towards the development of tourism in the county of Monte Patria”.
The purpose of the agreement between ProCultura and Enel Chile is to value the history of electrification in Chile, in this sense Alberto Larraín, executive director of the ProCultura Foundation stated that “Monte Patria is a county we learned of a few years ago and we were surprised by its two story adobe constructions over the hills of Rapel, which we have not seen in other locations. We assessed houses in Rapel and currently we are carrying out a heritage survey of the whole county. That is why, when Enel invited us to participate in the project for the rescue of its history and heritage, we had no doubts concerning our participation. In itself the Los Molles Hydroelectric Power is very valuable and we are certain that its valuing will allow us to make the cultural riches of Monte Patria in general visible, and along with that, among other things, to consolidate its position in the tourist routes of the Limarí Valley”,
Valter Moro, general manager for Enel Generación pointed out the company’s participation in the “Heritage Day”, opening the gates of the Los Molles Hydroelectric Power Plant, with this, he assures “we are seeking to value the history of electrification in Chile, and furthermore, value all the Chileans that have contributed with their labor to electric power generation. Opening this power plant to the community in a day as important as heritage day, also means to show how energy has contributed to the country’s development. Today, more than ever, we reinforce our commitment to continue driving sustainable development.”
In addition to this activity, Enel Chile is participating in the “Heritage Day” with the opening of the Victoria Substation Museum, in Santiago and the exhibition in the National Library of “Let there be light, first decades of electric power in Chile (1883-1940)”, a sample of Enel Chile’s institutional historical photographic archive, rendering account of the arrival of electricity to our country, telling the story of how Chile changed with this important milestone.