Twenty years ago, Codelco incorporated a guideline for the efficient use of energy in its facilities. Since then, there have been sustained efforts, such as the regulation that since 2006 requires investment projects to incorporate energy efficiency criteria from the first stages of design and the six commitments that the Corporation publicly acquired in terms of sustainability for 2030.

In line with these initiatives and to comply with future legal provisions, Codelco became the first large-scale mining company in the country to certify 100% of its operations under ISO 50001, an international standard that establishes the requirements for maintaining and improving an Energy Management System (EMS) so that organizations can be more efficient, optimize energy-related costs and control greenhouse gases.

For this accreditation, El Teniente was one of the three Codelco divisions (along with Radomiro Tomic and Salvador) audited for initiatives and developments associated with energy efficiency in its processes. This involved intensive work to organize information and a complete review to identify those initiatives already implemented or in the process of materialization.

El Teniente's Sustainability and External Affairs Manager, Germán Sandoval, said: “This achievement reflects our unwavering commitment to responsible production. With this international certification, we demonstrate our firm commitment to following the highest industry standards, which will not only allow us to save energy and reduce operating costs, but also contribute significantly to our mission of promoting sustainability.”

The process for accreditation

The steps were taken within the framework of the update of the Energy Efficiency Law, which last year categorized Codelco as a large consumer with management capacity.

“The regulations indicate what each company must have in order to be certified in terms of energy management. The decision was made that, as a public company, we should lead this issue and, although we had a deadline until 2030, the idea was to have this system implemented in the short term,” says Bastián Sharp, energy manager at El Teniente.

The Superintendent of Energy and Supplies of El Teniente, Ingriz Arce, highlights that “any energy savings are significant. That was the basis for raising awareness and mobilizing the organization to get involved, to propose alternatives and, in that drive to contribute, to deliver greater surpluses and to be a better business for the region and the country, people understood it.”

Document management, the creation of an Energy Committee, identifying significant energy uses to be optimized, and the collection and monitoring of operational data were some of the tasks that led to the success of the El Teniente Division.

By involving all of Codelco's divisions, the challenge was no small one. “As it is a corporate certification, standardization is important. The fact that both we and the other units handled the same information, the same databases, was key,” said Daniela González, ISO expert at El Teniente.