Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash (illustrative)
In December 2024, Chile generated a record 42% of its electricity from wind and solar, the energy think tank Ember reported on 10 January 2025. Across 2024 as a whole, renewable sources provided 70% of the country's power.
Key facts
Wind and solar supplied 42% of Chile's electricity in December 2024, beating the previous monthly record of 39.6% set in September 2024.
Over 2024, wind and solar produced a record 33% of Chile's electricity, up from 14% in 2019.
Renewables, including hydropower, supplied 70% of Chile's power in 2024, compared with 47% in 2019, when fossil fuels still led with 53%.
In 2025, Chile's wind and solar share rose again to 38% for the full year, according to Ember data.
Why it matters
Only five years ago, fossil fuels supplied most of Chile's electricity; by 2024 renewables provided 70%, and clean sources supplied about two thirds again in 2025. Ember has highlighted Chile as one of the countries with the highest solar shares in the world, showing how quickly a grid can be transformed when wind and solar are cheap.
Worth noting
Chile's grid has struggled to carry all this power: about 6,084 GWh of renewable output was curtailed in 2025, according to the industry association Acera, and the government passed an Energy Transition Law in December 2024 partly to speed up transmission building.