Using waste biomass to produce electricity in Chile

Energy production in Chile has been historically dominated by fossil fuels, with over 70% of total primary energy supplied by coal, oil or gas, despite the country’s relatively low fossil fuel resources. Hydropower has also been responsible for around around 50 Terrawatt-hours of energy each year since 2000.

In recent years, however, Chile has branched out into other energy sources, and has become known as a leader in renewable energy development – making great strides in geothermal, solar and wind energy, and other “Non-Conventional Renewable Energy (NCRE)” sources, as defined in Chilean law. Sources like biomass power, biogas and waste-to-energy (also categorised as NCREs) have also been developed and scaled up in Chile to help decrease the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.

Biomass power is considered a ‘bridging solution’ – allowing waste products to be used to generate power as an alternative to high-emitting fossil fuels, whilst we scale up capacity for solar, wind and other types of renewables to accommodate our global energy needs. It is important to note that only biomass projects utilising waste products can be categorised as renewable energy projects. The EU recently made their position on this clear, stating that, “Apart from certain exemptions, woody biomass would no longer be considered as renewable energy and would therefore no longer be eligible for incentives meant to promote renewables.” Biomass grown specifically for the purpose of being burned to create energy is not a renewable energy solution, and certainly not something Ecologi would support, as it usually leads to monocultures being grown which are detrimental to biodiversity, and means investment is being diverted from truly renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.

This project involves the production of electricity through the collection and processing of waste biomass from the Viñales sawmill in central Chile. The waste biomass is directly combusted in a boiler to generate steam, which is expanded through a turbine to generate electricity.

The biomass used for the production of the electricity is typically leftover from the sawmill’s industrial activity (such as sawdust or bark), with additional waste biomass supplied from forestry pruning operations nearby. In the absence of the project activity, this waste biomass would likely be burned in the open air, or left in piles to decay.

The electricity produced powers the sawmill itself, and excess electricity is additionally passed into the local grid. It is estimated that the project activity will produce emissions reductions of over 250,000 tCO2e per year, through the generation of electricity that would otherwise be produced by burning fossil fuels.

This project is verified by the Verified Carbon Standard. You can view it on the Verra Registry here.