Renewables win more than half of Chile power tender

Renewable energy producers have won more than a 50% share of Chile’s latest power tender, with falling costs for renewables driving the average bid price below USD 50 per megawatt hour (MWh) – the lowest since the tenders began a decade ago.

More than half of the energy awarded in the auction, which was to supply 12,430 gigawatt hours (GWh) from 2021, will be supplied by non-conventional renewable energy, mainly wind and solar projects, the Chilean Association for Renewable Energy (ACERA) reports.

Chile’s Energy Ministry defines non-conventional renewable energy as wind, small-scale hydroelectric (up to 20 MW), biomass, biogas, geothermal, solar and wave power. Conventional renewable energy covers mainly large-scale hydroelectric projects.

The average bid in the auction was USD 47.60/MWh, some 40% lower than in the country’s last tender in October 2015. ACERA said this was directly attributable to competition from non-conventional renewables, which are now fully integrated into Chile’s electricity market.

Successful companies in the tender include Endesa Chile, Mainstream Renewable Power and Acciona. The winning renewable energy projects represent capacity of more than 2,000 MW.

Read ACERA’s full story here (in Spanish).

For more details in English, click here.