Chile’s National Energy Commission will tender for 2,310GWh of renewables and energy storage

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
A ground-mounted solar PV project in Chile. Image: ACERA.

Chilean authorities have announced plans to carry out an auction next year, looking to procure 2,310GWh of renewable power from generation and storage.

Preliminary bidding terms published the country’s National Energy Commission (CNE) say selected projects must start delivering power from 2026 and sign up to 15-year power purchase agreements.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The terms consider some changes aimed at reducing risks in order to encourage the participation of different energy suppliers while achieving competitive prices to benefit consumers. These include the optional possibility of extending the original contract if not all the committed energy is invoiced.

The final bidding terms will be published this December, with the auction set to take place in May 2021. 

CNE had planned to hold the auction this year, but it was postponed because of the impact of COVID-19. CNE executive secretary José Venegas said the postponement will efficiently address a bidding process that is necessary to solidify the significant growth of renewable energy projects in the country.

The news comes after Chile’s government awarded development rights for 11 utility-scale renewables projects in the country totalling more than 2.6GW in a tender held earlier in the year.

EDF, Engie, Enel, SolarPack, Solarcentury, Sonnedix, Caldera Solar and CopiapoEnergíaSolar were among the winners, according to Chile’s Ministry of National Assets, with projects coming forward with an implied total investment value of more than US$2.5 billion.

Meanwhile, AES Corporation's local subsidiary AES Gener began construction earlier this year of a 112MW / 560MWh battery energy storage system project in the country. The largest project of its kind in Latin America to date, it will be Chile's first large-scale solar-plus-storage project with the batteries will be paired with 253MW of renewable energy generation, including nearby wind power capacity. 

This story first appeared on PV Tech

14 October 2025
InterContinental, Santiago, Chile
We are excited to bring the industry together for the fourth edition of the Energy Storage Summit Latin America on 14-15 October in Santiago, Chile. The Summit has become a meeting place for IPPs and developers, investors, financiers and banks, utilities, consultancies, software providers, and manufacturers who are setting high standards in the Latin American energy storage sector.

Read Next

May 23, 2025
AEMO has released a determination to help simplify the technical requirements for renewables and BESS connecting to Australia’s NEM.
May 22, 2025
BYD will supply more than half of the total battery storage capacity at developer Grenergy’s 11GWh Oasis de Atacama project in Chile.
May 20, 2025
Developer and independent power producer (IPP) Zelestra has ordered 1GWh of BESS technology plus PCS equipment from Sungrow for a project in Chile.
Premium
May 20, 2025
ESN Premium speaks with Chloe Hicks of EnergyCo about New South Wales’ Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) and its hopes for energy storage.
May 20, 2025
Origin Energy has submitted an 800MWh wind-plus-storage project in New South Wales to Australia’s EPBC Act.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter