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VOL 12 | NUM 33 | 6 March 2026
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CHILE | 23 February - 1 March 2026
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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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DNV offers tools for Wholesale Market analysis and operation:
- DNV Power Analytics (DNV-PA) is our web-based platform that provides access to constantly updated long-term energy price forecasts.
- With a refined design and an improved user experience we are upgrading our digital services for our customers.
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Wind dropped, thermals rose and prices followed
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The average price in Polpaico reached USD 48.3/MWh, which is 51% higher than last week, and 57% lower than the same week of 2025.
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Marginal cost evolution in Polpaico during past years
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This week, wind share had a major decrease of 6.3 pp, with low plant factor levels on the solar hours from Wednesday to Friday, highlighting an almost null wind plant factor at 10 AM of Wednesday. This decrease was somewhat leveled by a solar increase of 1.5 pp, but still forced a rise in gas and coal shares by 2.7 pp and 2.1 pp, respectively. On the other hand, hydro sources kept a combined stable level: dam increased by 0.4 pp, while run-of-river decreased by the same amount.
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Peak demand was 11.4 GW at 4 PM on Monday, when solar and wind accounted for 74.5% of the generation. In terms of BESS participation, its peak was at 9 PM on Saturday representing 15.0% of the mix (1.6 GW).
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Generation Mix
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Variation
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Power range by energy sources (average prices)
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Geothermal
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Cogeneration
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Biomass
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Coal
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Gas
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Oil
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BESS
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Dam
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Run-of-river
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Wind
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PV Solar
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CSP
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In terms of congestions and decoupling there were a couple events to highlight:
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- 220 kV Lastarria – Ciruelos line, congested every day of the week, except on Sunday. These congestions occurred at different times, with a major frequence at solar hours and afternoon.
- 500 kV Nueva Pan de Azúcar – Polpaico line, congested on Tuesday and Wednesday solar hours, decoupling the system from Pan de Azúcar to the north.
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The weekly hourly peak price in Puerto Montt occurred at 9 AM of Wednesday reaching USD 232.3/MWh. For the other reference nodes, the peak was at 1 AM of Thursday, with prices ranging from USD 181.9/MWh in Charrúa to USD 199.0/MWh in Crucero. At the time, the low renewable availability (marked by a low wind resource) forced the operation of Los Pinos power plant (oil) to meet the demand.
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Crucero
USD 47.1/MWh
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Cardones
USD 47.1/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 47.1/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 48.3/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 46.9/MWh
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Puerto Montt
USD 87.8/MWh
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Solar and Wind production & BESS dispatch
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Solar generation increased this week by 29.0 GWh (+6.7%), with the highest plant factor seen in the Polpaico area (27.0%), while the lowest was in the Puerto Montt area (4.3%). The system-wide solar plant factor was of 22.4%.
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Wind generation had a major decrease of 101.5 GWh (-36.6%), with the highest plant factor seen in the Puerto Montt area (29.6%), while the lowest reached 6.5% in the Polpaico area, followed by Pan de Azúcar and Cardones areas, with 10.4% and 10.8%, respectively. The system-wide wind plant factor was of 15.9%.
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BESS dispatch increased by 434 MWh (+0.8%), driven mainly by a 1.9% rise in the Crucero area (+885 MWh), which offset the 14.2% decline in the Polpaico area (‑401 MWh).
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This week, the curtailment rate was 9.2% for wind (25.3 GWh) and 13.9% for solar (70.5 GWh), reaching an average curtailment rate of 12%, which is 4.2 pp lower than last week.
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Crucero
USD 2.7/MWh
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Cardones
USD 2.8/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 2.3/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 6.5/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 7.1/MWh
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Puerto Montt
USD 4.4/MWh
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Energy weighted average spot price using PV production by zone
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Crucero
USD 27.4/MWh
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Cardones
USD 30.6/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 45.5/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 49.7/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 47.8/MWh
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Puerto Montt
USD 54.4/MWh
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Energy weighted average spot price using wind production by zone
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BESS discharge capture price
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Crucero
USD 79.2/MWh
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Cardones
USD 84.8/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 105.7/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 75.0/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 65.5/MWh
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Energy weighted average spot price using BESS discharge by zone
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BESS charge capture price
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Crucero
USD 1.1/MWh
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Cardones
USD 0.2/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 0.0/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 16.9/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 46.8/MWh
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Energy weighted average spot price using BESS charge (both from co-located power plant and from grid) by zone
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DNV, Magdalena 181, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
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