Roundup: Energy transition bill, DG regulations, priority dispatch

Energy transition bill

Chile’s energy transition bill has advanced in congress.

The draft legislation cleared the senate and now goes to the lower house.

Introduced by the current administration, the bill is chiefly focused on spurring the development of transmission via amendments in the sphere of planning.

An associated measure – the reallocation of transmission congestion revenue – is designed to help partly ease the financial stress experienced by some generators, chiefly pureplay renewables firms operating in the country’s north that are impacted by curtailment. The original bill established that this revenue, today used for transmission line maintenance, is redirected to generators. The article establishing this measure is due to be reviewed in the lower house, according to a senate statement.

Congestion revenue is generated when power is transported between areas with different prices. In May, this reached US$70mn, the statement said.

Distributed generation regulations

A distributed generation (PMGD) regulation review process has got underway in Chile, with a public consultation penciled in for December.

A central objective is harmonizing and updating rules on self-supply (established in decree No. 57) and PMGDs (established in decree No. 88), in turn supporting higher penetration as well as incorporation of new technologies. Planned discussion areas include coordination and operation, new technology, grid connection and the PMGD stabilized price regime.

As of end-2023, over 2.5GW of PMGD capacity (plants up to 9MW in capacity) was operating, while as of this February, net-billing capacity was edging close to the 250MW mark.

Distributed generation, which eases demand for large transmission lines, is seen playing a key role in Chile’s 2050 net-zero push.

Priority dispatch capacity

Argentine wholesale power market administrator Cammesa updated a document, known as Annex 3, which outlines assignable capacity on the grid.

The document is used by companies interested in bidding for transmission priority dispatch capacity.

A process corresponding to 2Q24 is underway. Offers are due by July 26 and capacity assignment is scheduled for August 23, according to information from Cammesa.

Projects looking to participate in the Mater term market, where large users and distribution companies contract green electricity from generators or traders under corporate power purchase agreements, seek priority dispatch capacity.

High-ranking officials in the government have said they prefer a decentralized contract market like Mater rather than large, centralized government supply auctions such as those under the RenovAr program. 

Click here for more information on the 2Q24 process.