CNE: 2023 Transmission Expansion Plan includes 45 projects, with a total investment of US$389 million

This is a machine translation of the original release, issued in Spanish.

PRESS RELEASE from CNE
October 22, 2024

The National Energy Commission (CNE), through Exempt Resolution No. 562, approved the Final Technical Report of the Annual Transmission Expansion Plan for the National Electric System (SEN) for the year 2023 , thus complying with the provisions of articles 87° and 91° of the Law.

The aforementioned 2023 Expansion Plan includes a total of 45 transmission projects, the investment of which amounts to a reference total of US$389 million.

In the case of the National Transmission System, a total of 10 expansion projects are planned, with an investment of approximately US$52 million, of which 9 are extensions of existing facilities, for an amount close to US$30 million, while 1 new project is contemplated, for a total of approximately US$22 million.

In terms of Zonal Transmission, a total of 35 expansion works are presented, with an investment of approximately US$337 million, of which 22 are extensions of existing facilities, for an amount of approximately US$110 million, while 13 correspond to new works, for a total of approximately US$227 million.

The works contained in this report are expected to begin construction in the first half of 2026.

Projects

Marco Mancilla, Executive Secretary of the CNE, highlighted the completion of this process, after receiving the Opinion of the Panel of Experts on September 30, whose modifications to the Final Technical Report were incorporated in the Definitive Technical Report, published on Monday, October 21.

"The final technical report of the 2023 expansion process includes expansion works that, once tendered, built and put into operation, will guarantee supply, improve operational costs and strengthen the National and Zonal Transmission Systems, especially in the northern and southern zones of the National Electric System," said the authority.

Among the works highlighted by Mancilla is the work “New flow control system for the 220 kV Ciruelos-Nueva Pichirropulli sections”, which consists of the installation of dynamic power flow control equipment based on FACTS type technologies, “to optimize the use of transmission lines in the southern zone, increasing the transfer capacity through these corridors and reducing the operational costs of the system.”

Another of the works he highlighted is the “Support for the supply of the city of Antofagasta” which consists of a restructuring of the transmission system that currently supplies the city, due to the occupation of the right-of-way in some sectors due to irregular residential growth.

"These expansion works not only seek to resolve the city's supply problems, but also seek to eliminate the current risks to residents living in the current right-of-way of the 220 kV and 110 kV transmission lines," he added.