Chile: Record renewable energy in the National Electrical System

INFORMATION from CNE
November 2023

(Machine translation of the original Spanish text)

-So far this year, the National Electric System has a record participation of renewable energy in the generation mix.

-To measure this, it is necessary to review the renewable contribution hour by hour of day, which includes solar, wind, hydraulic, geothermal, cogeneration, biogas and biomass technologies.

-The highest participation was recorded on Monday, October 30, at the 13th hour (between 12 and 1 p.m.), with 93.5%, which breaks down into: 53.3% solar; 30.4% hydraulic; 7.5% wind and 2.3% associated with geothermal, cogeneration, biogas and biomass.

-In September, the maximum had occurred on Friday, September 15 at the 11th hour (between 10 and 11 am), with 92.6%, which breaks down into: 41.8% solar; 33.3% hydraulic; 15.0% wind and 2.5% associated with geothermal, cogeneration, biogas and biomass.

-Before that, in August there had been another peak, but of a total of 91.1%, and the rest of the months the peak was between 69% and 88%.

Month	Maximum Renewable hourly participation per month in 2023
January	69.0%
February	83.1%
March	83.9%
April	78.1%
May	76.7%
June	84.3%
July	88.3%
August	91.1%
September	92.6%
October	93.5%

-In general terms, it is seen that longer hours of the day have higher penetrations of renewable energy, compared to last year.

-For example, in August there were 1% of the hours with participation over 90%, in September it was 6% and in October 4%.

-If the values are taken above 80%, we see 5% in February, 1% in March, 5% in June, 22% in July, 26% in August, 33% in September and 41% in October.

-“The greater participation of renewable energy in the National Electric System is explained by several factors, such as the increase in hydraulic generation, which has functioned as a complement to solar and wind generation,” explained Rodrigo Espinoza, Operations Manager of the Coordinator.

-This has allowed thermal energy to be displaced in the central-southern area.

-“We are working so that the National Electrical System can continue to integrate more and more renewable energy. As Coordinator we have a work Roadmap that allows us to operate a network with 100% renewable energy. For this, a series of enabling conditions must be developed to meet the levels of security and quality of service that the people and organizations that consume electricity require,” Espinoza added.

-So far this year, the highest variable renewable contribution (solar and wind) in one hour occurred in March, with 71.2%, corresponding to 59.2% solar and 12% wind. This was on March 19 at the 14th hour.

Month	Maximum hourly participation Renewable Variable per month in 2023 (solar + wind)
January	64.8%
February	68.1%
March	71.2%
April	67.7%
May	67.2%
June	64.2%
July	61.4%
August	61.2%
September	59.9%
October	67.9%

-To incorporate more variable renewable energy, a set of actions is required, among them, that said renewable plants be verified to provide complementary services, which would avoid having conventional generation for these purposes. Today, only two ERV campuses are accredited to provide complementary services.

-It is also necessary to pay attention to technical aspects associated with the so-called network strength, which is the ability of the electrical system to maintain the voltage waveform in both phase and amplitude in the face of disturbances. Starting in 2026 with the incorporation of synchronous condensers, which are being tendered by the Coordinator, it will be possible to contribute to the strength of the network in the northern zone of the system, where we have detected a lack of that attribute and which today means dispatching generation from power plants thermal.

-Finally, it is essential to have storage capacity to supply nighttime demand and manage the supply ramps that occur at the beginning and end of daylight.

-In 2022, the hourly peak was recorded in October, with 87.3%, which occurred on Wednesday, October 12 at the 14th hour (between 1 and 2 p.m.). That day, a solar contribution of 52.8% was reached, followed by 19.4% hydraulic and 13.1% wind, among other sources.

Month	Maximum Renewable hourly participation per month in 2022
January	79.7%
February	74.2%
March	70.2%
April	70.5%
May	71.1%
June	72.7%
July	77.7%
August	80.3%
September	83.4%
October	87.3%
November	86.5%
December	85.2%

-In September 2022, 6% of the hours that month were above 80%; In October and November it was 31% of the hours, and in December it was 13%.

-In 2022, the maximum peak of Variable Renewable Energy (ERV, solar and wind) was 66.5% in total, also recorded at the 13th hour of October 14.

Month	Maximum hourly participation Renewable Variable per month in 2022 (solar + wind)
January	60.2%
February	57.3%
March	59.3%
April	57.2%
May	57.3%
June	55.8%
July	57.2%
August	59.2%
September	63.2%
October	66.5%
November	61.7%
December	61.6%

-The National Electric System, as of September 2023, has an installed capacity of 34,653 MW, an increase of 4.7% compared to September 2022.

-The accumulated generation in the January-September period is 62,730.4 GWh, an increase of 0.8%.

-As of September, 1,200 MW of new capacity has been connected, with 60 generating units, mainly solar.