Puerto Ventanas Coal Terminal
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The Puerto Ventanas coal terminal is a coal import terminal located on Quintero Bay in Puchuncaví, Valparaíso, Chile. The terminal supplies thermal coal for electricity generation at the nearby Ventanas power station.
Location
Background
Puerto Ventanas is a private bulk port serving industrial and energy facilities in Quintero Bay on the Pacific coast of Chile.[1]
The coal terminal at Puerto Ventanas supplies fuel to the coal-fired Ventanas power station.[2][3] Coal terminal operations at the port began in 1966, around the same time as the first unit of the Ventanas power station began operating.[4] Coal is transported via a conveyor belt system[5] from the port to to a coal yard shared by all units of the power plant.[2]
Between 2016 and 2025, annual coal throughput via the Ventanas terminal was as follows:
- 2025: 836,499 tonnes[6]
- 2024: 552,462 tonnes[7]
- 2023: 582,177 tonnes[8]
- 2022: 841,282 tonnes[9]
- 2021: 1,576,474 tonnes[10]
- 2020: 1,600,220 tonnes[11]
- 2019: 1,934,324 tonnes[12]
- 2018: 2,321,614 tonnes[13]
- 2017: 2,289,251 tonnes[14]
- 2016: 2,345,950 tonnes[14]
A significant reduction in coal throughput has resulted from the retirement of the Ventanas power station's two older units in 2020 and 2023, respectively. As of 2026 only the two newer units — Nueva Ventanas (Unit 3) and Campiche (Unit 4) — were still operating. Units 3 and 4 had originally been slated for retirement by 2040 as part of Chile's 2019 national decarbonization plan[15], but the plant's owners signaled in 2021 that the retirement timeline could be accelerated to as early as January 2025.[16] As of December 2025, Chile's national energy commission speculated that Units 3 and 4 might both remain operational until October 2030.[17]
Between 2017 and 2020, most of the coal handled at the Quintero/Ventanas port came from Puerto Bolivar, Colombia.[18] The port also received coal during the same time frame from Cienaga (Colombia), Prince Rupert (Canada), Newcastle (Australia), Roberts Bank (Canada), Cam Pha (Vietnam), Santa Marta (Colombia), Abbot Point (Australia), as well as small amounts from the United States.[18] Historically, Australia, Colombia, Canada and the United States regularly appeared as key coal suppliers in Puerto Ventanas SA's annual reports.[19]
Health, environmental and social impacts
Puerto Ventanas is located within one of Chile's notorious "sacrifice zones."[20] Air quality and toxic gases released from power plants and smelters surrounding the port have been a source of contention for local residents who have suffered from dizziness, headaches, and vomiting.[21][22] Academic reports are being used to study the negative health outcomes of locals in the Quintero Bay region.
In June 2021, the Chilean appellate court ordered the suspension of the arrival of ships with coal to the Bay of Quintero.[23] The transport and unloading of coal at the port was suspended due to the negative health outcomes, inequality and other impacts on local residents.[23]
Between January-July 2021, there were more than 60 coal strandings along the coast of Quintero Bay, adding up to a total of more than 830 strandings between January 2009 and July 2021.[24] A study by the Chilean Navy found a build up of coal waste underneath pipelines serving the larger Port of Ventanas as well as the AES Gener company.[24] In late July 2021, the Captaincy of the Port of Quintero established new coal unloading measures aimed at avoiding coal stranding along the shoreline.[25] The new guidelines required installation of a waterproof containment device between ships and the dock as a prerequisite to resumption of coal imports.[25]
Project Details
- Operator: Puerto Ventanas S.A.[6]
- Location: Puchuncaví, Valparaíso, Chile
- Annual Coal Capacity: 2.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa)[26]
- Status: Operating[6]
- Start Year: 1966[4]
- Type: Imports[6]
- Coal source: Colombia, Australia, Canada, United States[18][19][27][28]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ SeaRates. "Information and Characteristics about Quintero Puerto Chile – Searates". SeaRates (in español). Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Estudio de Alternativas Tecnológicas al Retiro y/o Reconversión de las Unidades de Carbón en Chile (p 33-34)" (PDF). Inodú. 2018-11-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Memoria Anual 2010 (p 113)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Memoria Anual 2008 (p 12)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Estudio Diagnóstico Plan de Gestión Atmosférica - Región de Valparaíso, Construcción de un Inventario de Emisiones Regional (p 492)" (PDF). MMA • Ambiosis. 2011-12-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Memoria Integrada 2025 (pp 56, 181)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Memoria Integrada 2024 (p 209)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Memoria Anual 2023 (p 299)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Memoria Anual 2022 (p 256)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Memoria Anual 2021 (p 240)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Memoria Anual - Reporte Integrado 2020 (p 191)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Memoria Anual - Reporte Integrado 2019 (p 195)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Memoria Anual - Reporte Integrado 2018 (p 239)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Memoria Anual - Reporte Integrado 2017 (p 250)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Plan de Descarbonización y Retiro de Centrales Termoeléctricas a Carbón en Chile, Anuncio del gobierno de Sebastián Piñera". Chile Sustentable. June 4, 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Memoria anual Integrada 2021 (pp 181, 265)" (PDF). AES Andes. April 5, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Resolución Exenta N° 804" (PDF). Comisión Nacional de Energía. December 22, 2025. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "Ember Shipping Dashboard - Ember". Ember. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Memoria Anual 2014 (p 29)" (PDF). Puerto Ventanas SA. 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "The Complex Energy Transition of Chile's "Sacrifice Zones"". Inter Press Service. 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ↑ "Chile Targets Power Plants, Smelter After Hundreds Sickened". Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ↑ Dave Sherwood. "UPDATE 1-Chilean regulators file charges against state-run ENAP over Quintero pollution crisis". U.S. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Corte de Apelaciones ordena suspender ingreso de naves con carbón a la bahía de Quintero". ChileSustentable (in español). Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 NARANJA WEB - WWW.NARANJAWEB.CL (2021-07-19). "Quintero: Se registra tercer varamiento de carbón en menos de una semana | Epicentro Chile". Epicentro Chile (in español). Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Establecen medidas para la descarga de carbón en Puerto Ventanas – PortalPortuario". portalportuario.cl (in español). Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ↑ "Puerto Ventanas impulsa operación granelera sostenible apoyada en tecnología y diversificación de cargas". MundoMaritimo. 2026-06-10. Retrieved 2026-09-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Juan Ignacio Latorre Riveros et al vs AES Gener SA, Empresa Eléctrica Ventanas SA, Empresa Campiche SA, Puerto Ventanas SA, y el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente (p 6)" (PDF). Cuarta Sala de la C.A. de Valparaíso. 2021-06-03.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 70 (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Pescadores de carbón". Fundación Terram. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2026-09-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
