Weekly Market Analytics Chile Vol 12 Num 28

VOL 12 | NUM 28 | 30 January 2026

Power Markets Weekly

CHILE | 19 - 25 January 2026

Power Markets Weekly is a brief weekly review of the electric market operation in Chile, Mexico, Iberia, France and Italy. If you are not a subscriber, please feel free to subscribe here

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Higher demand and reduced wind generation drove prices up this week

Glossary

Global SEN operation

The average price in Polpaico was USD 42.1/MWh, 45% higher than last week and, 10% lower compared to the same week, last year.

Marginal cost evolution in Polpaico during past years

Regarding the generation mix this week, solar rose by 1.1 pp, while wind generation fell significantly by 4.6 pp.

Hydro sources remained stable, with a slight decrease of run-of-river by 0.1 pp, and a 0.5 pp increase in dam generation.

On the other hand, due to the renewable share decrease, gas and coal sources had to increase their participation by 2.7 pp and 1.1 pp respectively, raising the overall share of thermal sources in the mix. Oil presented no variation relative to last week.

Peak demand was 12.7 GW at 1 PM on Monday, when solar and wind accounted for 74.6% of the generation. The peak of BESS participation was at 10 PM on Sunday, accounting for 14.9% of the total generation.

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

The peak price of the week was set by Puerto Montt while operating on an oil power plant, reaching USD 239.1/MWh on Tuesday at 12 PM.

A key factor contributing to the increase in the system-wide price was the combination of higher demand and lower wind generation. This situation led to the dispatch of coal and gas sources to meet demand, which pushed prices upward.

Decoupling was seen every day of the week during solar and nighttime hours. In the case of the decoupling of Puerto Montt, congestion in the 220 KV Lastarria – Ciruelos line was the main cause, conversely, the decoupling of Polpaico and Charrúa was driven by congestion in the 500 KV Nueva Pan de Azúcar – Polpaico line.

Marginal cost evolution

Crucero
USD 40.9/MWh

D. de Almagro
USD 40.8/MWh

Pan de Azúcar
USD 41.5/MWh

Polpaico
USD 42.1/MWh

Charrúa
USD 40.8/MWh

Puerto Montt
USD 139.6/MWh

Solar and Wind production & BESS dispatch

Solar generation reached 539,4 GWh, peaking at 8.9 GW at 12 PM on Friday, setting a new record! This increase represents a 7% rise (37.3 GWh) compared to the previous week. Regarding the plant factor, the lowest was registered in Pan de Azúcar, with 23.3%, while the highest was observed in Charrúa, with 33.6%. The system wide solar plant factor reached 27.2%.

Wind generation in the system declined by 67.3 GWh, representing a sharp drop of 27% compared to last week. The lowest plant factor was 6.1% in Polpaico, otherwise, the highest was 30.9% in Charrúa. The system wide wind plant factor reached 18.5%.

BESS injections and withdrawals remained stable, increasing by 0.7 GWh and 1.5 GWh, respectively. BESS withdrawals peaked at 1.4 GW on Tuesday at 1 PM.

This week’s curtailment rate was 17.4% for wind and 25.5% for solar, reaching an average curtailment rate of 22.2%, a rise of 2.8 pp (or 41.8 GWh) relative to last week.