Colbún updates the progress of its development strategy and announces a new 228 MW battery park

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Spanish.

PRESS RELEASE from Colbún
December 2024

At the seventh version of its Investor Day, Colbún presented to more than fifty investors and financial market agents a complete update on the development of its business strategy for 2030, as well as the integration of the company's sustainability pillars and its vision of the main challenges of the electricity market in the face of a responsible energy transition.

Among the most relevant updates presented during the day, the CEO of the company, José Ignacio Escobar, commented that, insofar as customers and the market demand it, Colbún aims to end the decade with an additional renewable generation capacity of 2,000 MW, which could require an investment of between US$1.5 billion and US$1.8 billion.

“Our goal is to add installed capacity in a reasonable manner. We are not going to take speculative risks in the development of our project portfolio, nor are we going to buy for the sake of buying. We take a long-term view and are very careful in evaluating the best investment opportunities. Both new plants and possible acquisitions must add value to the company, our clients and shareholders, in addition to being aligned with our ESG standards,” said the company’s CEO, who added that a significant part of future growth will come from energy storage.

In this context, Escobar announced that the Colbún Board of Directors recently approved the construction of a new energy storage plant, Celda Solar, located in the commune of Camarones (Arica y Parinacota Region), and which will have a capacity of 228 MW and 912 MWh of energy, with an investment of US$260 million.

“Our philosophy is to have a portfolio of projects that allow us to have the most competitive options to meet the demand of our clients and the system. And to do so, it is key to have a portfolio of projects that is distributed and diversified in terms of technology, geography and maturity conditions for their development,” commented the CEO of Colbún.

During his presentation, Escobar also referred to the projects that the Company is developing in the area of water, with two desalination plant initiatives in the initial stages of development, one of them in the Petorca Valley, and another in the O'Higgins Region. In terms of green hydrogen, he detailed the projects that Colbún has developed to replace the grey hydrogen consumed by the company's natural gas plants, both in Chile and Peru, while he anticipated the criteria with which Colbún will seek to develop green hydrogen projects for export in the medium term: focused on green ammonia and with the presence of a strategic partner.

For his part, Colbún's Energy Manager, Juan Eduardo Vásquez, referred to the challenging operating conditions facing the electrical system, where he highlighted the need for greater generation flexibility to face the great variability of renewable sources. In this regard, the executive explained the different measures that the company has taken to respond to this challenge, in order to provide safe, competitive and sustainable energy to the system.

Responsible energy transition

The meeting with investors was opened by Hernán Rodríguez, president of Colbún, who gave the company's global vision regarding the challenges of the electrical system and its regulatory framework. In this regard, he stressed that, although the regulatory framework of the industry needs to be updated in accordance with the evolution of the sector, regulatory reforms should not be based on the assumption that the Chilean electrical system is in crisis, since it has been a world example of the incorporation of renewable energies and storage in a competitive manner and without subsidies.

“Regulatory reforms must never lose sight of the importance of ensuring that costs are processed in a cost-efficient manner by the market, with stable rules of the game in the long term and that respect the balances of the sector without putting at risk the responsible energy transition, the competitiveness of our companies or the final bill of the users,” said the president of the electric company.

Rodríguez also referred to the challenges of the energy transition, where, while he highlighted the commitment of all actors, including Colbún, to continue advancing in decarbonization, he called for not only focusing on the goals of this process. “We must also focus on the enabling capacities that allow us to achieve carbon neutrality without sacrificing the safety and efficiency of our electrical system for the benefit of consumers,” he said.

Sustainability

For her part, Ana Luisa Vergara, Colbún's Deputy Sustainability Manager, highlighted the initiatives that the company is promoting in terms of reducing the carbon footprint, caring for biodiversity and reducing water consumption and waste production. “We have managed to reduce our carbon footprint by 29% since 2018 to date and we are getting closer to meeting the goal of reducing it by 40% by 2030, for which we continue to promote the development of a portfolio of renewable energy projects and energy efficiency plans. In addition, we are making good progress in our goals of reducing water use and waste generation by 2030,” said Vergara.

Regarding diversity and community initiatives, Vergara highlighted the great progress made to date. “Today at Colbún, 24% of workers and 19% of leadership positions are women, bringing us closer to the goals of 30% and 25% respectively for 2030. In addition, we continue working to increase our contribution to the communities we work with, through support programs for entrepreneurs in the different areas where we are present, ongoing dialogue with local communities and projects that promote local development, such as, for example, the Angostura Power Plant and Park in the Biobío Region, which has just turned 10 years old, allowing the communities of Quilaco and Santa Bárbara to have a great tourist attraction that attracts more than 130,000 visitors a year,” she said.

About Colbún SA

Colbún SA is a company with 38 years of experience dedicated to the generation and commercialization of energy, which has a portfolio of more than 350 industrial and corporate clients, nearly 1,100 employees and an installed capacity of more than 4,000 MW through 29 generation plants in Chile and Peru. The company is promoting a strong program of solar and wind renewable energy projects to support its growth, as well as green hydrogen and water treatment initiatives. In addition, it is a relevant player in the energy solutions market through Colbún Soluciones, where it offers solar plants for clients, energy management systems and infrastructure for electromobility, among other services.