(Dow Jones) November 23, 2010 – With some 1,000 megawatts of installed capacity in its project pipeline, private-equity fund Southern Cross hopes to become an “important player” in Chile’s energy market, the fund’s partner Raul Sotomayor said Tuesday.

Among other projects, Southern Cross, through its Rio Grande SA power generation unit, is waiting for environmental approval for a 700-megawatt, $1.40 billion coal fired plant in Coronel in the country’s southern Bio Bio region.

Also, the equity fund and Chilean generator Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA, or Endesa (EOC, ENDESA.SN), control power generator and natural gas pipeline company GasAtacama SA.

“We hope to become an important player [in Chile]…we’re optimistic about the country and strive to see Chile have competitive energy prices,” Sotomayor told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar.

As the country’s gross domestic product is forecast to grow at a pace of about 5%-6% a year, some 10,000 megawatts of new installed capacity are expected to be needed by 2020.

By Anthony Esposito