Energy Central-News Article

Marked by multiple challenges caused by the repercussions of the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine or extreme weather events, such as prolonged droughts, the electricity sector in Chile continues to move towards more renewable generation. In 2022, installed renewable generation capacity increased from 17 GW to 20 GW, mainly as a result of the addition of 1.5 GW solar and more than 600 MW wind. For the first time in 15 years, renewable generation was again in the majority, accounting for 56% of all electricity produced in 2022.

Generadoras de Chile represents the main operators of renewable energy and other technologies in our country, with a potential investment agenda of more than US$23 billion in photovoltaic, concentrated solar, wind, storage and green hydrogen plants. In order to sustain this momentum, which generates employment and local development, it is essential to have adequate and urgent signals to mitigate the stress situation of the electricity system and promote the enabling conditions to sustain the progress of renewable energy.

This includes mitigating the financial impacts of stabilization laws; accelerating storage to take advantage of the abundance of solar and wind energy that is being cut back today, and to be able to use that energy at night or when there is no wind; adequate transmission management and planning to be able to take energy from the places where it is produced to where we consume it; modernization of the State to optimize the permitting and environmental assessment of new projects, without lowering environmental standards, and most importantly: generating trust and shared value in the territories where renewable energies are developed.

This transition makes it urgent to modernize the electricity market, perfecting the marginalist system, the cornerstone of the design of most of the world's electricity markets, and which promotes the competitive development of renewables and storage, along with deepening the contract market and its appropriate distribution of risks.

As an industry, we believe it is essential to have a public-private work to address the short term, as well as a clear agenda for the medium and long term, through a rigorous regulatory dialogue, which contributes to boost the present and future welfare of Chile by promoting a reliable and sustainable generation and use of energy.