One of the copper company’s sustainability goals is to be able to supply all of its operations only from renewable energy sources by the end of the decade, to contribute to reducing its carbon footprint. This new tender, added to the renegotiations of coal-based contracts, allows the copper company to access better market conditions.

Codelco successfully concluded the public bidding process for renewable energy developed during 2023, in which more than 50 national and international companies participated, and Atlas, Colbún and Innergex were awarded, for a total of 1 .8 terawatt hours per year (TWh/year), which represents the equivalent consumption of approximately 222 thousand homes.

The tender awarded Atlas 375 GWh/year; to Colbún, 1,100 GW/year and Innergex, 350 GWh/year. The three contracts will have a duration of 15 years, starting January 1, 2026.

Thanks to this process, as of January 1, 2026, over 85% of the electrical energy used by Codelco will be supplied with 100% renewable sources, thus advancing in the fulfillment of its strategic plan to achieve the decarbonization of its electrical matrix.

Rubén Alvarado, executive president of Codelco, highlights that “the new contracts will be supported by some existing renewable energy generation assets and with new projects to be developed by the winning companies, which will also incorporate storage based on batteries. lithium. In this way, this process reinforces our path towards sustainable mining, aligned with our main commitments for 2030.”

Codelco’s path towards a green energy supply matrix

As a result of the modifications agreed to in 2018 to an energy supply contract, in 2021 the copper company began the decarbonization of the electricity supply for Chuquicamata, for approximately 1.5 TWh/year.

In 2022, Codelco agreed to relevant renegotiations with its supplier Colbún, which allowed it to ensure nearly 50% of supply based on renewable energies starting in 2026. In January 2023, it announced a new  agreement, now with the generator AES Andes , for the renegotiation of the contract that supplies the Ministerio Hales and Radomiro Tomic divisions, to provide up to 1.6 TWh/year of renewable energy between 2026 and 2040, which reached a level close to 70% of energy supply clean by 2026.

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“This new tender is another important step, which will lead Codelco to achieve over 85% of its electrical energy consumption from renewable sources and which, added to the renegotiations of coal-based contracts, has also allowed us to access better market conditions,” says Mauricio Acuña, vice president of Supply of the state company.

When Codelco reaches 100% energy supply based on renewable sources, Codelco will have reduced approximately two million 780 thousand tons of CO ₂ equivalent per year.