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VOL 12 | NUM 34 | 13 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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BESS Tocopilla (Engie) enters operation, further increasing battery storage in the system (116 MW/5h)
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The average price in Polpaico was USD 33.4/MWh, down 31% from last week and 47% lower than the same week in 2025.
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Marginal cost evolution in Polpaico during past years
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In this week generation mix, some gas unavailabilities caused a fall in its share by 2.2 pp. Consequenty, coal sources registered a sharp rise of 2.9 pp in their participation, resulting in a mild increase in the overall thermal share of the mix. In the same manner, solar and wind participation showed a mild grow, driven by an increase in wind by 1.7 pp while solar fell 0.9 pp.
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Regarding hydro generation, dam and run-of-river decreased by 1.5 pp and 0.3 pp, respectively.
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BESS participation peaked on Thursday at 9 PM, with output reaching 1.6 GW, accounting for 15.6% of the total supply at that hour. A contribution to this output was the new BESS Tocopilla (Engie) that began commercial operation, adding 116 MW/5h to the SEN storage capacity. The BESS is located in the Antofagasta region, near Crucero area.
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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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Decoupling of prices driven by congestion was present during the week: Except for Tuesday and Sunday, the 220 kV Lastarria – Ciruelos line congested, decoupling Puerto Montt from the rest of the system during solar hours. 500 kV Nueva Pan de Azúcar – Polpaico line also reported congestion during solar hours of Monday, Friday and Saturday
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During early hours on Thursday, high wind generation in the Center-South and South areas led to the congestion of 220 kV Charrúa – Santa Clara line, decoupling Puerto Montt from the rest of the system, but this time, with prices dropping to zero.
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The peak price of the week was recorded in Crucero, reaching USD 91.0/MWh at 4:15 AM on Tuesday, while the entire system was coupled with Rapel (dam) setting the marginal cost. All other reference nodes also peaked at the same hour, with the exception of Puerto Montt, which reached USD 87.6/MWh at 9:30 PM on Friday.
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Crucero
USD 32.6/MWh
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Cardones
USD 32.3/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 32.2/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 33.4/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 32.5/MWh
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Puerto Montt
USD 46.1/MWh
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Solar and Wind production & BESS dispatch
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Solar output decreased by 6% | 26.4 GWh relative to last week. Regarding the plant factor, the highest was 26.2% in Charrúa, while the lowest was 17.9% in Crucero. The system-wide solar plant factor was 21.4%.
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On the other hand, wind generation increased 13% | 22.6 GWh compared to last week. The highest plant factor was 23.1% in Puerto Montt followed by Charrúa with 20.1%, while the lowest was 14.5% in Polpaico. The system-wide wind plant factor was 17.9%.
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BESS injections showed an increase of 3% | 1,976 MWh, fueled by a 4.2% | 1,993 MWh increase in the Crucero area, meanwhile, injections on the rest of the system remained stable.
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This week curtailment rate reached 14.7% | 34.8 GWh for wind and 13.5% | 74.7 GWh for solar, resulting in a combined system-wide curtailment rate of 13.6%, which represents an increase of 1.7% relative to last week.
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Crucero
USD 2.4/MWh
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Cardones
USD 2.1/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 1.6/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 5.1/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 5.0/MWh
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Puerto Montt
USD 42.9/MWh
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Energy weighted average spot price using PV production by zone
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Crucero
USD 25.4/MWh
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Cardones
USD 33.0/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 34.8/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 39.1/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 38.8/MWh
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Puerto Montt
USD 34.2/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 57.4/MWh
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Cardones
USD 59.3/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 58.3/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 54.5/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 42.2/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 1.0/MWh
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Cardones
USD 0.4/MWh
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Pan de Azúcar
USD 0.3/MWh
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Polpaico
USD 13.0/MWh
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Charrúa
USD 27.5/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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