Universidad Católica ‘Green’ energy home plans

Article posted by Coliseum, September 14^th, 2023

Image: Universidad Católica

The new home of the Chilean Primera División football club Universidad Católica (UC) will be the first stadium in Chile to be powered by ‘Green’ energy.

‘Universidad Católica’ stated that the stadium will be supported by a solar plant and will incorporate various solutions such as demand monitoring, electrical vehicle charging devices, architectural lighting, and a renewed infrastructure to sustain the operation of a modern, sustainable and a 100 percent electric stadium.

The Club Deportivo Universidad Católica is a professional football club based in Santiago, Chile. Founded in 1937, they play in the Primera División, the top flight of Chilean football. The team has played its home games at the Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo since 1988.

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The Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo is a football stadium in Las Condes in the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile. It is used mostly for home matches of the Chilean top-flight Club Deportivo Universidad Católica which also owns the stadium. The stadium was built in 1988 and currently holds 14,768 people.

‘Universidad Católica’ further stated that the Universidad Católica has partnered with Enel Chile, Enel Generación and Enel X for the supply of 100 percent renewable electricity. The new facilities will have a renewable energy self-generation plant, which will be able to completely cover six games a month, while the entire differential will be under contract for the supply of certified electricity of 100 percent renewable origin for 2.4 GWh/year from solar, wind, hydraulic or geothermal plants.

The deal was struck recently by the President of ‘Los Cruzados’, Juan Tagle, the top-notch club’s General Manager Juan Pablo Pareja, the General Manager of Enel Chile (the largest electric utility company in Chile), Fabrizio Barderi , and the General Manager of Enel by Enel Generación, Alfredo Hott.

The Enel Generación is the leading generation company in Chile with a combined net installed capacity of 5,548 MW at the end of 2022, 63 percent of which attributes to renewable energies and 37 percent to thermal power plants.

The agreement contemplates a 100 percent renewable electricity supply contract and the incorporation of various solutions that will directly benefit the sporting event and the spectators, with the aim of transforming the new venue into the first sustainable stadium in Chile.

Maintained Maisa Rojas, Chile’s Environment Minister, “The project that the Universidad Católica is developing in the construction of its new stadium is in line with how the new works in Chile should be conceived. With the signing of this agreement, the Universidad Católica is contributing to the goal of carbon neutrality that we have set as a country. To think of sustainable constructions – where materials are reused, the consumption of water and other natural resources is reduced – is to think about the future. We live in a triple planetary crisis, which is pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity, and an important way to face it is to think differently about architectural works, public spaces and infrastructures.”

The consumption of renewable energy, associated with the supply contract, will be equivalent to the reduction of approximately 1,700 tons of CO₂, or equivalent to planting 97,600 trees, removing 565 cars from circulation per year or the CO₂ associated with the consumption of 319 houses.

Added Fabrizio Barderi, Enel Chile General Manager, “For the Enel Group, through its subsidiaries Enel Generación Chile and Enel X, it is proud to partner with one of the most important sports institutions in the country such as the Catholic University, and to advance in the energy efficiency and sustainability of venues as emblematic as this new stadium, developing a unique energy project in Chile at the service of sport.”

Exulted Juan Tagle, President of ‘Los Cruzados’, “The above deal is welcome news and will go towards materializing our dream of boasting a futuristic home venue. The high point of the deal is that it is going to be a 100 percent electric stadium keeping in mind the sustainability factor. Renewable energy will be the fulcrum of this development.”

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