Chile: Power Auction Included Proposals for Geothermal Energy

Chile Awards Contracts in Its Largest Power Auction (Wall Street Journal)

(Courtesy CIA.gov)

Chile awarded several energy contracts Wednesday in the country’s largest-ever power auction, which authorities say will sharply reduce electricity costs.

Renewable-energy companies won many of the contracts to supply 12,430 gigawatt hours per year of electricity over 20 years starting in 2021.

The average cost of the contracts is $47.59 per megawatt hour, which was 63% lower than the average during the previous administration’s last auction, Energy Minister Máximo Pacheco said.

The proposals from 84 projects touched bottom at $29/MWh, and far exceeded sought-after supply of 12,430GWh/year starting in 2021. Wind accounted for 36.7pc of the total offered capacity, followed by solar with 29.8pc, LNG 22.1pc, hydro 7.2pc, and other conventional and renewables such as geothermal 4.3pc.

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