Latest situation in Chile October 2023
According to the regular report of economy (October 2023) published by the embassy of Japan in Chile, the latest situation of the country can be summarized as below.:
- Renewable Energy
In Chile, as companies move toward the retirement of coal-fired power plants, the country’s largest coal-fired power generation company in northern Chile is considering partnering with Japanese and Korean companies in ammonia technology.
Specifically, the company is exploring the technical and economic potential of combining coal with green ammonia produced from renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gases, and appears to be collaborating with Japanese and Korean companies that are testing innovations, with a view of partially reconverting its five power plants (152 MW each) and power system.
Why is ammonia technology attracting attention?
Ammonia does not emit CO2 when burned, and it can be easily co-fired with coal, so technological development is underway to use it as a fuel with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality.
In addition to green ammonia, there are other types of ammonia, such as gray ammonia made from natural gas or coal, and blue ammonia which uses natural gas or coal as raw materials and recovers CO2 generated during the development and manufacturing stage through CCU/carbon recycling or CCS.
- Economics
The economic activity index in September recorded -0.0%. In the mining section recorded 6.3%.
The mining production index in the same month was 4.3%, and copper production rose by 4.1%.
The export amount in October was 7.72 billion dollars (-4.3%), of which mining products raised 4.44 billion dollars (-9.4%, 57.4% of the total), of which copper raised 3.60 billion dollars (-8.8%, 81.2% of the total mining export value).
On the other hand, import value in the same month was 6.78 billion dollars (-2.8%), and the trade balance was a surplus of $950 million.
*Percentages from the same month of the previous year
The amount of trade with China, Japan, and South Korea (September) resulted as below:
With China: exportation 3.28 billion (10.3％), importation 1.50 billion (-22.3%), total amount of trade 4.78 billion (-2.5%)
With Japan: exportation 410 million (-47.1%), importation 160 million (-11.0%), total amount of trade 570 million (-40.3%)
With South Korea: exportation 340 million (-18.9%), importation 90 million (-20.0%), total amount of trade 430 million (-19.2%)
*Dollars, comparing to the same month of the previous year
References：The regular report of economy (October 2023), from the Embassy of Japan in Chile, Department of Economy.
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy
“Section 4 Efforts to expand the introduction of ammonia fuel” (the original article is written in Japanese)
https://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/about/whitepaper/2021/html/3-8-4.html