Chilean political leaders visit the Soria heat network

The thermal power plant of the Soria Biomass Heat Network has received a visit from the head of the Air Quality department of the SEREMI of the Environment of the Los Ríos region, in southern Chile. Jean Paul Pinaud, accompanied by the director of the Ceder-CIEMAT of Lubia, Miguel Latorre, listened to the explanations of the Montes de Rebi engineer, David Lafuente Laguna, who showed the operation of the equipment and the generation of thermal energy from biomass to feed the heating and hot water network. The Chilean is highly concerned about incorporating alternative measures to solve the problem of air pollution that crosses the Valdivia area in the south of the country. “The reality of air pollution in the cities of southern Chile is quite serious and that is why we are facing the problem by knowing the operation of plants like this one,” said the representative of the central government.

They try to develop a national and regional policy on Efficient Heating, Housing and Wood Energy, with the commitment to increase environmental efficiency in buildings, both to improve the quality of life of the people of the Chilean territory, as well as for the dissemination and development of policies that allow energy sustainability in the country.

“As the Ministry of the Environment we are working on a decontamination plan as an environmental management instrument that, through the definition and implementation of specific measures and actions, aims to recover the levels indicated in the primary environmental quality standards of a zone classified as saturated by one or more contaminants. And Biomass Heat Networks would be a solution since firewood is the raw material we use as fuel.” He pointed out that in Valdivia there are approximately 40 thousand teams. “Between 2012 and 2013, 365 heater replacements were carried out and between 2014 and January 2015, approximately 446 heaters were replaced by introducing pellets,” he explained.

The Heat Network thus becomes, once again, an international reference as an example of impeccable equipment at the forefront of thermal energy generation.