Plaza La Colonia de Tocopilla

With the aim of recovering an arid area in the southern access of the commune of Tocopilla, for more than two years a participatory project aimed at its recovery and reuse was worked on. It is a plot of 4,000 m2 located in the southern access of the city of Tocopilla. This site caused problems for neighbors, as its state of abandonment led to the storage of garbage, debris and delivered an unwanted image when accessing this port city in northern Chile.

The project involved developing a sustainable management model: characterized by solar panel lighting; vegetation is watered with reused water from the Tocopilla plant and local labor was used for its construction.

Neighbors participated in a contest in which they named the new square "La Colonia". The meaning of the name is attributed to the recognition of the historical value it possesses for the port of Tocopilla, since it was the installation of the first salt and energy industries, which formed the human settlement known as La Colonia. The name represents a value to the local identity, and today it is symbolized in a physical space shared by the community.

Currently AES Gener has a concession delivered by the authorities for 30 years.