According to reports from Bloomberg, President Sebastian Pinera said at the end of last week that the government wants to increase hydro’s share of output to between 45-50%, from the current 34%. This is part of a plant to improve energy security and lower costs.

A number of new hydro projects are currently being developed or have recently been commissioned in the country. In November last year, the 111MW Chacayes run-of-river project in Alto Cachapoal Valley was inaugurated, and Chilean utility Colbun is developing the 316MW Angostura project in the Bio-Bio region for commissioning in 2013.