The Energía Austral project is located in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region, one of the 15 administrative regions into which Chile is divided. The Aysén Region is situated between latitudes 43º 40' and 49º south between the Coman Fjord and Lake General Carrera. It stretches 990 km from north to south and has an area of 108,494 km². With 14.3% of Chile’s total area, it is the country’s third largest region. Topographically, it falls lengthwise into three main areas: the coastal sector, the Patagonian Range and the Pampas.

In the Aysén Region, the Coastal Mountains, which run north-south along Chile, are completely submerged and appear only as the Las Guaitecas and Los Chonos Archipelagos before disappearing into the sea again in the Taitao Peninsula.

The Intermediate Depression, which is also submerged, forms the Moraleda Channel, the Region’s main navigation route. The Andes Mountains cross the Region from north to south and it is there that most human settlements are located in contrast to the rest of the country where they are mostly on the western side of the Andes.

With a population density of just 0.8 inhabitants/km2, this is Chile’s most sparsely populated region and its 91,492 people - 48,177 men and 43,315 women, according to the latest census - represent 0.6% of the country’s total population. The Coyhaique and Aysén municipal districts together account for 71.9% of the Region’s population.