Colbún marks 10 years of its awareness campaign about the Angostura plant (Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, running since 2014). As a run-of-river plant with no reservoir, it opens its gates when flow exceeds 700 m³/s — a normal, planned winter operation, not an emergency. It coordinates with DMC, DGA and SENAPRED, informs 70+ stakeholders, and works with local communities to ease concerns.
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· The initiative, since its origins a decade ago, has aimed to inform authorities, media outlets and neighboring communities about the operation of the plant during the rainy season and eventual flow surges.
Located in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, the Angostura Hydroelectric Power Plant — in operation since 2014 — works under a “run-of-river” model; that is, it has no reservoir capacity, so the water that enters the plant is the same that is released downstream. In this way, when the flow of the Biobío River and its tributaries exceeds 700 m³/s —the maximum turbining capacity—, the gates are opened to evacuate the surplus, a completely normal practice during winter, as the company explained.
Rodolfo Guardiola, deputy manager in charge of the Biobío Complex facilities at Colbún, stressed that “opening the gates is not necessarily due to an emergency, but rather forms part of the plant’s usual operating process”, adding that “it is important for the community to understand that these types of actions respond to the design of the infrastructure and not to extraordinary situations”.
Colbún’s role with the authorities
Regarding coordination with the authorities and the plant’s role in water security, Guardiola stated that “Angostura cannot control the amount of water arriving from the mountain range, but it can inform in a timely manner about what is discharged from our facilities. We maintain permanent contact with more than 70 institutional and local stakeholders, providing key information for decision-making”.
In addition, the executive underlined that the flow circulating along the Biobío River downstream does not depend solely on the operation of the plant. “There are numerous tributaries that contribute to the total flow before it reaches the coast, which means that the volume of water can increase considerably along its course”, he explained.
The company also detailed the gate-opening protocol, which is activated in coordination with the Meteorological Directorate of Chile and the General Water Directorate (DGA), together with the work carried out with the National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response (SENAPRED), the latter being the only entity empowered to declare emergency situations.
Work with the community
Alongside the technical efforts, Colbún has maintained a communication strategy with neighboring communities through radio campaigns, informational gatherings and educational material. “Working with people is essential. We want them to understand how the plant works and that opening the gates in winter is a safe and planned operation”, Guardiola emphasized.
The executive concluded by highlighting the work of the media over these 10 years of the campaign: “thanks to you we have been able to amplify this information that is so relevant to us. Due to your coverage, communities, authorities and other media outlets have been able to report accurately and in a timely manner about our operation, and with that, myths regarding our operation have been dispelled and fears about the opening of the gates have been eased”.
