rationing in dry years. Total generation in 2008 was 56.3 TW·h, 42% of which was contributed by hydropower sources. The remaining 58% was produced by thermal sources. This figure varies significantly from one year to another, depending upon the hydrology of the particular period. The electricity production grew rapidly since the start of natural gas imports from Argentina in the late 1990s. Besides the new hydro projects (see Renewables section below), there are several large-scale thermal projects in the development pipeline for Chile. Numerous projects are being built, although other similar plants have been delayed due to opposition from locals and uncertainty about gas supply. It is this uncertainty that has directed new attention to coal-fired facilities, of which Chile already has several plants in operation, with a combined capacity of 2,042 MW. In addition, as of April 2010, there are plans to build new plants for a total of 11,852 MW of new generation capacity. By company The main companies involved, in terms of installed capacity, are the following: Enel Generación Chile (formerly ENDESA; 35%, 6085 MW) AES Andes (18%, 3157 MW) Colbún S.A. (15%, 2621 MW) Suez Energy Andino (12%, 2176 MW) E.E. Guacolda (3%, 610 MW) Pacific Hydro (3%, 551 MW) A number of other companies account for the remaining 14% (2418 MW) Imports and exports In 2003, Chile imported 2 TW·h of electricity (mainly from Argentina) while it did not have any exports. Demand In 2007, the country consumed 55.2 TW·h of electricity. This corresponds to 3,326 kWh per capita, which is still low by developed country standards. It grew rapidly (6% per year) until 2006, but since then it has been stagnant. Demand and supply projections In 2006 it was expected that electricity demand would increase at 5% per year in the period up to 2030. In that same period, the share of natural gas in the generation mix would increase to 46%. The installed capacity of natural-gas-fired electricity generation was expected to reach 14 GW in 2030 (to be achieved by the construction of 10 new combined-cycle gas-fired power plants), while coal-fired and hydroelectricity generation would each account for about 26% of the total electricity generation mix. As can be seen above, by 2020 trends were quite different. Access to electricity Total electricity coverage in Chile was as high as 99.3% in 2006. Most of the progress in rural areas, where 96.4% of the