Founded in 1831, Ovalle is the capital of the Limarí province, in the Region of Coquimbo. It is located at approximately 400 km north of Santiago and close to 90 km south of Coquimbo, the regional capital. Its characteristics endow it with a strong tradition and agricultural vocation, emphasizing goat herding and commercial exploitation, along with a great tourist potential due to its beautiful scenery, enhanced by its clean skies, characteristic of the northern part of Chile.
One of its best-known attractions is the Fray Jorge National Park, classified as a natural relic because it is a sample of what more than 30,000 years ago was the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world. This extraordinary phenomenon, a Valdivian-type forest in a desert area, earned it the recognition of UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve.
The celebration of different typical festivals honoring Chilean customs and history is another of its attractions, such as the Fiesta del Cabrito and the nationally known religious festival of Niño Dios de Sotaquí, which takes place in the village of Sotaquí, 11 km from the center of the county, visited by hundreds of people who attend this celebration, which is a tradition more than 100 years old.
This vocation has begun to coexist strongly with the electric power development of the district and region, which has become one of the areas with the highest wind potential and growth in Chile. In the territory there are already 5 wind farms - including PE Talinay - totaling 505 MW, in addition to different initiatives under analysis. Vocation that is increasingly recognized and valued by the more than 100,000 inhabitants of the territory.
Due to the large size of its territory of nearly 3,830 km², there are several towns spread out throughout the region, including fishermen’s coves and agricultural communities. In this regard, the emphasis of sustainability and community work is focused on 4 locations:
- El Toro: a fishermen's cove at the mouth of the Limarí River, about 30 km from PE Talinay. It has a primary school, a rural health post, APR (rural drinking water), electric power with a generator and limited telephone and web connectivity. There are about 100 inhabitants, whose main activity is fishing.
- Alcones: an agricultural community located along one side of Route 5, facing the ocean and the mountains, Alcones Bajo and Alcones Alto, respectively. It has AP and APR (drinking water systems), electricity, municipal school and health post. There are nearly 600 inhabitants and their main economic activity is services.
- Peña Blanca: an agricultural community towards the region’s mountain ranges; it has an APR system (drinking water) and electric power through generation. The main source of income of its inhabitants is cattle raising and marketing their by-products, currently strongly affected by the drought.
- Talquilla: a fishermen's cove about 20 km from PE Talinay. Its connectivity is limited in both communications and access, it has no school or health post and is supplied by water from wells. There are nearly 80 inhabitants.