Weekly Market Analytics Chile Vol 12 Num 7

VOL 12 | NUM 7 | 5 September 2025

Power Markets Weekly

CHILE | 25 - 31 August 2025

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Glossary

Puerto Montt swings from zero to peak pricing

Global SEN operation

The average price at Polpaico was USD 47.2/MWh, 14% lower than last week and 9% higher than the same week last year.

Marginal cost evolution in Polpaico during past years

Renewables reduced their share in the energy mix, mainly due to a drop in wind and dam generation. Wind share declined by 3.2 pp, while dam fell by 1.4 pp. Meanwhile, solar and run-of-river each increased their shares by 0.6 pp. Thermal participation rose, led by gas with a 2.7 pp increase, followed by coal with 1.2 pp.

The system’s maximum demand reached 11.8 GW on Thursday at 12 PM, with wind, solar, and BESS contributing 54.6% of the output. The highest wind-solar-BESS participation occurred on Monday at 1 PM, covering 76.2% of the 11.0 GW demand. Weekly demand remained almost unchanged (-0.3%) from the previous week, totaling 1.69 TWh.

This week also marked the commissioning of the Desierto de Atacama BESS, with a nominal capacity of 262 MWh and 117 MW of power, located in the Diego de Almagro zone.

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 experienced decoupling in the north and the south.

In the north, Crucero and Diego de Almagro were the only zones to consistently record USD 0/MWh prices across Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, due to congestion on the 500 kV Nueva Pan de Azúcar - Polpaico line, which restricted exports from the northern regions to the center.

In the south, congestion on the 220 kV Charrúa - Santa Clara line repeatedly caused Puerto Montt to decouple with prices at USD 0/MWh, while congestion on the 220 kV Lastarria - Ciruelos line led to decoupling with prices above the rest of the system. This latter constraint led the Trapén oil plant to operate on Wednesday and Thursday, setting the weekly peak price of USD 238.9/MWh on Wednesday at 10 AM in Puerto Montt.

Marginal cost evolution

Crucero
USD 36.9/MWh

D. de Almagro
USD 36.8/MWh

Pan de Azúcar
USD 37.6/MWh

Polpaico
USD 47.2/MWh

Charrúa
USD 46.1/MWh

Puerto Montt
USD 54.0/MWh

Solar and Wind production & BESS dispatch

Solar generation increased by 9.4 GWh (+2.8%), with a system-wide plant factor of 18.6%. The highest solar plant factor was observed in Crucero (25.1%), while the lowest was in Puerto Montt (10.7%).

On the contrary, wind generation declined by 54.9 GWh (-20.1%). The system plant factor was 20.4%, with Diego de Almagro leading at 36.5% and Polpaico recording the lowest at 10.3%. In the Charrúa zone, wind output was particularly low from Wednesday to Friday, with plant factors of 12.9%, 0.7%, and 2.8%, respectively.

BESS discharges totaled 34.5 GWh, down 10.1 GWh (-22.6%) from last week. The BESS plant factor was 10.9%, peaking in Crucero at 12.0% and reaching a low of 4.9% in Charrúa.

Solar curtailment reached 17.5%, up by 5.1 pp from the previous week. Wind curtailment was 15.9%, down by 1.4 pp. The combined curtailment rate was 16.9%, 1.4 pp higher than last week.