Weekly Market Analytics Chile Vol 12 Num 26

VOL 12 | NUM 26 | 16 January 2026

Power Markets Weekly

CHILE | 5 - 11 January 2026

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A return to business with full week, rose the demand by 0.6% compared to last week

Glossary

Global SEN operation

The average price in Polpaico was USD 36.5/MWh, which is 14.0% higher than last week but 12.4% lower compared to one year ago.

Marginal cost evolution in Polpaico during past years

A decrease in hydro share was observed despite a rise in dam by 0.4 pp, due to a fall in run-of-river by 1.1 pp.

Despite a 1.2 pp decrease in coal, thermals increased due to a 3.1 pp spike in gas and a 0.2 pp rise in oil

Finally, solar and wind shares fell by 0.6 pp and 0.8 pp, respectively.

Peak demand was 12.4 GW at 2 PM on Friday, with solar and wind accounted 74.6% of the generation. BESS participation had a peak at 11 PM on Sunday with 15.1%.

Generation Mix

Variation

Power range by energy sources (average prices)

Learn more about this chart

Generation evolution

Geothermal

Cogeneration

Biomass

Coal

Gas

Oil

BESS

Dam

Run-of-river

Wind

PV Solar

CSP

This week, the system recorded congestion in two main lines.

The 220 kV Lastarria – Ciruelos line was congested every day of the week, causing price decoupling in Puerto Montt. This congestion was observed at dawn from Monday to Saturday, and it was also recorded on Monday night.

On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, the 500 kV Nueva Pan de Azúcar–Polpaico line experienced congestion. This occurred at dawn on Monday and Thursday, but on Wednesday it happened during solar hours. The congestion led to price decoupling from Polpaico to the south, however, Puerto Montt was not affected in these cases, as it had already been decoupled earlier due to congestion on the 220 kV Lastarria–Ciruelos line.

The peak price of the week was registered on Monday at 5 PM, when the oil power plant Trapén set the price in Puerto Montt at USD 253.2/MWh. At the same hour, Polpaico and Charrúa were below USD 52/MWh, while Crucero, Diego de Almagro and Pan de Azúcar registered zero prices.

Marginal cost evolution

Crucero
USD 30.0/MWh

D. de Almagro
USD 30.3/MWh

Pan de Azúcar
USD 30.5/MWh

Polpaico
USD 34.8/MWh

Charrúa
USD 34.3/MWh

Puerto Montt
USD 126.8/MWh

Solar and Wind production & BESS dispatch

Solar injection increased its system wide plant factor by 0.4 pp compared to last week, reaching 26.6%. The highest plant factor was 30.0% in… Puerto Montt! while the lowest was in Pan de Azúcar with 22.7%.

Wind injection increased its system plant factor by 1.4 pp compared to last week, reaching 19.0%. The highest plant factor was in Charrúa with 26.6%, while the lowest was in Polpaico with 6.9%.

The total BESS discharge reached 56.9 GWh, which is 5.1 GWh lower than the injection recorded last week. Crucero recorded the highest total injection with 48.5 GWh, while Pan de Azúcar recorded the lowest at 40 MWh.

The combined curtailment rate for solar and wind generation declined by -1.7 pp compared to last week, reaching 19.4%. Solar curtailment reached 20.8% | 131.1 GWh while wind curtailment was 18.9% | 51.8 GWh.