Spotlight: Chile’s 2024-25 concessions pipeline

Chile is gearing for a busy period in terms of infrastructure concessions, with plans to tender 22 contracts worth US$11.7bn during the last months of 2024 and 2025. 

This is in addition to 40 projects that are already in the execution phase, representing US$9.67bn in investments, and 10 more for US$6.31bn that are currently being tendered.

The concessions office (DGC) of the public works ministry (MOP) only saw a 0.6% increase in its funding to 1.34tn pesos (US$1.42bn) in the 2025 budget bill, which is currently being reviewed by congress. The investment budget was reduced by 0.8% compared to this year.

DGC’s direct investment areas include studies, inspections, and subsidy payments in certain contracts that include such elements, concessions director Juan Manuel Sánchez told the budget committee, which approved his office’s assignation on Thursday. 

Sánchez highlighted that DGC is also working to update its monitoring of infrastructure concessions.

“After 30 years, [DGC] still doesn’t have an information system that allows to adequately track each action included in each contract,” he said.

As for the 2024-25 pipeline, the projects are:

Copiapó penitentiary complex (US$200mn)
Route 5 highway. Caldera-Antofagasta stretch (US$931mn)
Route 5 Antofagasta-Iquique (US$720mn)
Route 5 Río Bueno-Puerto Montt (US$310mn)
Route 5 Collipulli-Temuco US$320mn)
Route L-30-M (US$600mn)
Villarrica route (US$608mn)
Valdivia access network (US$675mn)
Santiago north-west orbital highway (987mn)
Route 57 (US$900mn)
Alto Hospicio-Iquique cable car (US$108mn)
Valparaíso cable car (US$78mn)
Santiago-Valparaíso train (US$3.28bn)
Tsunami alert system (US$94mn)
Concepción electromobility corridor. Route 150 (US$180mn)
Concepción electromobility corridor. Route 160 (US$200mn)
Coquimbo region desalination plant (US$286mn)
O’Higgins park stadium (US$29mn)
Santiago judicial center (US$56mn)
Los Andes land port (US$56mn)
Southern airport network: El Tepual, Cañal Bajo, and Pichoy airports (US$273mn)
La Serena-Coquimbo light rail (US$313mn)

Regarding the Santiago-Valparaíso train, whose studies tender was declared void in August, Sánchez said that the new auction is expected to be launched before the end of this year, as bidding documents are being reviewed by the country’s comptroller. 

In the case of the projects listed as under execution, DGC has five airport contracts covering six terminals, 10 contracts for 20 hospitals, 13 contracts for 1,230km of highways, one reservoir, and one cable car project.

These include projects that have yet to kick off works, such as Santiago’s Bicentenary cable car (US$79.7mn) and the Talca-Chillán stretch of route 5 (US$785mn), but are advancing with their engineering studies. 

In the specific case of the Austral airport network (US$162mn. 9% complete), which includes the country's southernmost international terminal in Punta Arenas, Sánchez said the contract is being modified so that expansion works that were originally expected to be needed by 2032 will be moved forward to 2025.

This is because the Magallanes region will house several green hydrogen projects, which the authorities believe could cause a sudden spike in demand.

In terms of projects being tendered, six correspond to highway contracts covering 788km, while two involve airports, one a penitentiary, and the last is for the La Punilla reservoir (US$396mn), which is set to have its bids opening in December, according to Sánchez.