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Chile Renewable Energy

Enel Green Power Reports 124% Jump In Renewable Energy Capacity Addition In 2016

written by saurabh

Enel’s Global Renewable Energies Division reported a record-breaking jump in capacity addition last year.

Enel Green Power reported that it added 2,018 megawatts of renewable energy capacity last year, a 124% increase from around 900 megawatts capacity added in 2015. Quite understandably, a good majority of the new capacity was added in developing markets, like Brazil, Mexico, Chile and South Africa.

“This record confirms once again the incredible efforts made by the entire Enel Green Power team,” said Francesco Venturini, Head of Enel’s Global Renewable Energies Division. “It’s a team result that makes us extremely proud. The credit goes to everyone who worked selflessly and steadfastly to attain this success.”

Solar and wind energy technologies dominated the capacity addition last year at Enel Green Power.

In Chile the company, through a subsidiary, added 542 megawatts of solar and wind energy projects. This includes 160 megawatts Finis Terrae solar PV park and 97 megawatts Carrera Pinto solar power project.

In Brazil, the company commissioned 102 MW Apiacás hydropower park in the state of Mato Grosso. The company has lined up several large-scale solar power projects in the country to be commissioned this year. These include a 254 megawatts and a 292 megawatts solar power project; the latter will be the largest solar power project in South America and also the largest solar power project owned by Enel when commissioned.

Additionally, Enel Green Power Peru is also working on a 160 megawatts solar power project which is expected to be commissioned this year.

Wind energy projects with cumulative capacity of 229 megawatts were commissioned in Mexico by Enel Green Power. The company added 470 megawatts of renewable energy capacity, second only to the United States. Enel Green Power RSA commissioned multiple solar and wind energy projects under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

The company added 573 megawatts of renewable energy capacity in the United States. This includes 200 megawatts wind energy capacity at Cimarron Bend wind farm. The wind farm will eventually have an installed capacity of 400 megawatts making it Enel’s largest wind energy project globally.

February 13, 2017 0 comment

Engie, Solairedirect To Develop 400 MW Solar Power Projects In Chile

written by saurabh

Engie Energia Chile and Solairedirect, subsidiaries of French utility Engie, have announced plans to jointly develop 400 MW of solar power in Chile.

The two companies have agreed to work on photovoltaic (PV) projects in the northern and central parts of Chile for a period of one year. Both the companies will own the project equally, however, Engie Energia has an option to acquire 100% of the project.

Engie Energia Chile holds a fossil-fuel dominated generation portfolio across Chile supplying power mainly to industrial and mining companies’ located in Chile’s Great North.

Solairedirect already has presence in Chile’s solar market and inaugurated its first solar park in Andacallo in December 2013. Company also recently won a 23 MW PV project at a tender in Mexico, offering a price of $48/MWh.

Recently at country’s biggest power auction, both these companies had jointly submitted a bid to offer services for 83 MWp Capricornio PV project, however, it was not selected in the tender. In the auction, SunEdison set a new record-low solar bid at 2.91¢/kWh ($29.1/MWh).

Engie, through its various subsidiaries, operates two solar power projects in Chile and in process of building a third one with an aggregate capacity of 55.3 MW.

Image by vectoropenstock.com for Cleantechies

August 30, 2016 0 comment

Enel Commissions 97 MW Solar Power Project In Chile

written by saurabh

Enel Green Power has commissioned yet another solar power project in Chile, strengthening its position as a major developer in one of the fastest growing renewable energy markets in South America.

Enel Green Power Chile, a subsidiary of the Italian parent, recently announced the operationalisation of 97 MW solar PV power project in the Atacama region of Chile. The Carrera Pinto project required a total investment of $180 million and is expected to generate more than 260 GWh every year.

The project is connected to Chile’s central grid Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC) which may allow it to export electricity to far-off places within the country. Several solar power projects located in the Atacama desert have been facing the problem of curtailment as localised consumption at copper mines has fallen sharply and in the absence of adequate transmission infrastructure developers have been forced to inject electricity into the grid for free.

Enel Green Energy already operates the largest solar power project in South America; the project is also located in Chile. The 160 MW solar PV project started electricity generation earlier this year. The project has the capacity of generate more than 400 GWh electricity every year enough to power around 198,000 Chilean households and offset more than 198,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. The project is connected to Chile’s Northern Region Transmission Network, SING (Sistema Interconectado del Norte Grande).

Chile, already an attractive market for renewable energy project developers, announced measures to strengthen transmission network for easy absorption of renewable energy projects. A recently approved legislation will create a new interconnected transmission network to be established alongside a new independent operator. This will ensure that power generated from renewable energy projects located in remote regions of the country is supplied to population centres.

A reverse auction held in Chile, earlier this month, for supply of 12.34 TWh electricity saw solar power bids plunging to global low of US¢2.91/kWh.

August 24, 2016 0 comment

Wind Energy Scores Big In Chile’s Electricity Auction

written by saurabh

Update #2: The lowest solar price bid is now 2.42¢/kWh.

Update: It was Solarpack that set the record-low bid, not SunEdison, as originally indicated in this article. The article has been updated accordingly.

A couple of companies managed to secure a huge share in the latest electricity auction held in Chile, and auction where a new record-low solar bid was set (globally) and wind projects took 40% of the auctioned power contracts.

According to media reports, Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd. and Empresa Nacional de Electricidad/Chile SA won more than two-thirds of the electricity supply auction in Chile.

Meanwhile, Solarpack set a new record-low solar bid at 2.91¢/kWh ($29.1/MWh). That beats the 2.99¢/kWh bid a Masdar Consortium provided for an 800 MW solar power project in Dubai earlier this year.

Overall, entities participating in the Chile power auction bid to supply a total of 12.34 TWh of electricity every year.

In this auction project developers had to place bids for the price of electricity without disclosing the source. About half of the electricity supply, around 6.17 TWh, will be supplied from existing infrastructure, while the rest will require an investment of $3 billion, the energy minister of Chile stated.

Mainstream has won rights to supply 3.7 TWh of electricity every year (30% of the auctioned electricity), while Endesa, a subsidiary of Enel, will supply 4.9 TWh (40% of the auctioned electricity). There was a significant correction in tariff in this auction compared to previous one. The average tariff bid in the auction declined 40% to US$47.59 per MWh compared to the previous auction.

To supply the contracted electricity Mainstream will develop 7 wind energy projects with a total capacity of 985 MW. To achieve this capacity, the company is expected to invest $1.65 billion over the next 5 years. Electricity generated from these projects will be sold at tariffs between $38.8 per MWh and $47.2 per MWh.

Endesa will sell 4.9 TWh of electricity every year at an average tariff of $50.83 per MWh. Media reports do not mention the type of technology Endesa will use to supply the electricity, but solar and wind power are possibilities and it’s hard to see anything else competing with them at such a low price. Enel commissioned a 160 MW solar power project in the country earlier this year.

Another boost to renewable energy development may come from Spain’s Acciona, which will supply 506 GWh electricity every year.

Fresh investment commitments from renewable energy project developers, like Mainstream, come as no surprise as the government recently approved legislation that will create a new interconnected transmission network to be established alongside a new independent operator. This will ensure that power generated from renewable energy projects located in remote regions of the country is supplied to population centres.

“Nobody expected the energy price in the PV block to go below $30/MWh, but it is important to keep in mind that the tender cannot be evaluated just by its lowest price bid,” Christian Siemoneit, Managing Partner at Hansalia, told Cleantechies in response to the news. “In general we can see the high competitiveness of the Chilean energy market but also the low costs of capital of Enel / Endesa and Mainstream. The competition of utilities and IPPs with large-scale solar projects is very hard at the moment. But there are still opportunities in this sector, especially for wind parks and smaller solar projects. We see very attractive investment conditions and decent returns with renewable energy in Chile also over the next few years.”

Images by vectoropenstock.com and CleanTechnica

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August 18, 2016 0 comment

Chile Approves New Law Aimed At Reducing Solar Power Curtailment

written by saurabh

In a much-needed boost for the solar power project developers in Chile, the government has approved a new power transmission law would see substantial boost supplying solar power to the major demand centres.

According to the Electricity Transmission Act passed by the Chilean Congress, a new interconnected transmission network shall be established alongside a new independent operator. The new law is expected to help in better distribution of electricity generated from renewable energy projects that currently remain concentrated in the Atacama desert.

The Atacama desert has seen sharp jump in implementation of solar power projects over the last few years as it receives significantly high amounts of solar radiation and several mining companies run their operations in the region.

However, due to the falling demand of minerals, especially copper, the mining operation in norther Chile have been badly hit. The region is home to several copper mines which were supposed to the major buyers of the solar power. Global copper oversupply and low prices mean low production at mines and low power consumption.

With no local consumption and absence of adequate transmission capacity to send the power to population centres, project developers are being forced to supply their power for free.

Chile is not the only developing country struggling to absorb the massive amounts of renewable energy capacity coming up rapidly. South Africa, China and India are facing similar issues. While some are investing in the expansion of existing transmission networks, some others are looking to set up an entire transmission network dedicated to source electricity from renewable energy projects.

July 20, 2016 0 comment