Our Mega-Commitments

At the Media Luna campsite in Lampa (Metropolitan Region), 200 families now have safe access to electricity thanks to an alliance between Enel and the Techo Foundation. The project consists of the construction of a “Common Roof” (in Spanish, Techo), that is, a community space that provides opportunities for exchange, learning and entertainment for the entire community.

This is one of actions being performed by Enel Chile with the community, aimed at helping reduce energy poverty, which has been described as a multidimensional phenomenon by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

According to the Ministry of Energy, there are still around 7,600 families in Chile without electricity. Our Company, in order to contribute to energy access in the areas where we operate, has developed initiatives that have improved the lives of 198,900 people since 2015. All of this in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal SDG 7, which Enel has committed to and which has the goal of promoting access to clean and affordable energy.

For our Company, innovation is the key player in sustainability, the continuous improvement process and the pursuit of new solutions that drive us towards the sustainable development of Chile, through clean and affordable energy and the digitalization of our assets. For this reason, Enel Chile has focused on the decarbonization of its energy matrix, through an agreement signed with the government in 2019, in which it committed to the scheduled closure of its coal-fired plants, based on a removal or reconversion calendar. In this framework, it ended operations at the Tarapaca Plant in December 31, 2019, much earlier than the originally scheduled closure date in May 2020. The process was carried out with the future of its workers in mind, under the principle of Fair Transition, which considered the socioeconomic impact of the operation and its mitigation. This demonstrates Enel Chile's commitment to accelerating the energy transition, through the decarbonization of its production mix and a significant increase in investments in renewable capacity.

Open Power for a brighter future

Open Power for a brighter future. We empower sustainable progress is the purpose that drives us and guides each of our lines of business and subsidiaries in their pursuit to create sustainable value for both the Company and all of its stakeholders. Opening up access to energy for more people, opening up the world of energy to new technologies, opening itself up to new ways of managing energy for society, that is Enel's Open Power strategy, which guides us along the path to sustainable development.

The Company's 2020-2022 Strategic Plan is focused on meeting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals throughout its value chain, placing Climate Action (SDG 13) at the center. The decarbonization of its matrix, accelerating the growth of renewable capacity (SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy) and the gradual closure of its coal-fired plants, along with the electrification of energy consumption, are the pillars for the next three years.

Furthermore, the business strategy adopted by Enel Chile helps the Company contribute concretely to the Sustainable Development Goals. The company has officially committed to 6 of these, which guide its management across the board: quality education (SDG4), access to clean energy (SDG7), promote socioeconomic growth for the communities where the Group operates (SDG8), the promotion of innovation in a responsible industrialization and resilient infrastructure (SDG9), the creation of sustainable cities and communities (SDG11) and climate actions (SDG13), with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2050.

This Sustainability Report has been prepared under the Essential option of the GRI Standards, and constitutes the main source of information for different rating assessments and agencies related to sustainability issues around the world, to analyze the company's sustainability management, which has been progressively moving forward, generating more confidence in those who evaluate us and adding value to the Company.

We address climate change

Since 2004, Enel has been an active member of the United Nations Global Pact, which has pushed the integration of sustainability within the corporate strategy. Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel, is currently a member of the Global Pact Council, and the Group subscribed to the Sustainable Development Goals as mentioned above. For the Company, the SDG 7 on access to affordable and clean energy, is one of the most important and has been incorporated as one of the pillars in its strategy to lead the energy transition.

During recent years, the top international institutions have warned of the risks associated with global warming, which has significant impacts on the economy, society and the environment.

At the local level, the water crisis has severely affected our country. Enel Chile addresses this contingency by developing clean and renewable energy sources. Simultaneously, in terms of water resource management, it is carrying out programs aimed at preserving the basins and their ecosystems, while improving the efficiency of its thermal energy plants in order to optimize the use of water.

Within the context of the climate crisis, in December 2019 the Company announced its new strategic plan to expand its renewable capacity by around 2 GW by the year 2022. As a result, Enel Chile's total installed capacity will be nearly 9.2 GW by 2022, and the contribution of renewable energy to its generation matrix will increase from 65% to 73%.

During 2019, the company managed to consolidate its leadership in the country’s energy transition, contributing around 43% of the country's renewable generation. Another area in which the Company has been hard at work is electromobility. In this sense, during 2019 Enel X presented the first National Electro-Route that will connect Arica to Punta Areas with a network of 1,200 charging stations and 1,800 connections for electric vehicles.

In this same line, during 2019, Enel X collaborated with Metbus to inaugurate the first electric bus corridor in Latin America. This is a sustainable comprehensive transport system exclusively made up of 100% electric buses, making Chile a leader in e-mobility in the region. With this milestone, our country became the first in Latin America to implement a sustainable electric bus corridor consisting of 285 zero emissions buses, and Santiago has become the city with the second highest number of electric buses in the world.

Another project worth mentioning is the replacement of wood stoves with air conditioning units, an initiative carried out alongside different companies, allowing them to offset their emissions.

People first

Sustainability is what helps us take on challenges and work together to forge a new development model that leaves no one behind. 

To address the social crisis that broke out in Chile during the last quarter of 2019, and the health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our company put the safety of our people first, with special attention to our collaborators, by involving them in the continuity of electricity generation and supply. Likewise, we have extended our standards to the company's external collaborators, our contractors and vendors. In this sense, digitalization plays a key role and has allowed us to face the pandemic with telecommuting to avoid the risk of contagion, without any adverse effects on operations.

Our response today is the result of continuous collaboration with our workers. During 2019, we implemented training programs on technological innovation and digitalization, in order to update our workers and prepare them in the face of new labor trends.

The performance of our community service work has remained sustainable, even in such adverse conditions as those faced around the world today.

Thanks to its geographical presence throughout the country, Enel Chile is a company that is integrated within the Chilean social framework and helps strengthen it through its dedicated teams. Our community relations strategy is focused on inclusive and participatory projects aimed at reducing the multidimensional poverty gap in terms of energy poverty and, ultimately, setting in place the conditions for communities to develop according to their aspirations. Each of these programs, projects and actions is detailed in the report presented below.

The following Sustainability Report responds to the Communication of Progress (COP) of the UN Global Pact, the IIRC model (International Integrated Reporting Council) and the SDG Compass, a guide which facilitates the adjustment of sustainability strategies to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Open Power for a Brighter Future, concrete actions for a better world. A world of renewable energy, electric transport, zero emissions, innovation, development and socioeconomic wellbeing for all, access to energy and sustainable progress.

Access the Enel Chile 2019 Sustainability Report at the following link. You can also find detailed information on the Company's Sustainability actions on the same platform.