US-Chilean energy utility AES Gener has decided it will close two of its Chilean coal-fired power units in Quintero, Valparaíso Region, ahead of schedule, according to Reuters. Unit 1 of the Ventanas plant is to close this year, while Unit 2 will close in 2022, both brought forward from 2024, with the company looking instead to deploy renewable generating capacity in a country widely regarded as having excellent geographical and climatic conditions for wind and solar power generation. Chile is now expecting to have closed 11 coal-fired power plants by 2024, three more than originally anticipated in 2019, when the government agreed a programme of closures with its major power generators. (The country has a 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal.) Both Ventanas units will be available to be restarted if the need arises.