Successful participation of ACERA in 1st Chile Summit Europa for the promotion of strategic sector investments

PRESS RELEASE from Acera 

May 2024

• The Executive Director of ACERA AG, Ana Lía Rojas, was in charge of the central presentation in the block “New opportunities in the energy sector: storage and electrification”.
• Organized by ProChile, CEOE and the Ibero-American Business Council-CEIB, the event brought together institutions and representatives of companies from Chile, Spain and the rest of Europe.

Madrid, May 2024. - On May 9 and 10, the first “Chile Summit Europe 2024” was held in Spain, an event promoted by the Government of Chile that seeks to encourage European investment in Chile in key sectors of the country, as well as such as the expansion of Chile's service industry. The meeting was inaugurated by the Ambassador of Chile in Spain, His Excellency. Mr. Javier Velasco, and the Director of ProChile Spain, Gabriel Guggisberg. This ceremony included the opening speeches of the Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile, and the General Director of Prochile, Mr. Ignacio Fernández.

On the opening day, the Executive Director of ACERA was the central speaker in the panel on the energy industry in transformation, with a focus on renewables, storage and the potential that this market represents for the development of green hydrogen projects for export. The global CEO of Acciona Energía, Rafael Mateos, and David Ruiz de Andrés, CEO of Grenergy, also participated in the panel, both key companies for Chile's energy transition and ACERA partner companies.

On the occasion, Rojas highlighted the importance of considering the transformation of the electricity sector not only from the perspective of generation, but also covering all the segments involved. In its central message it indicated that “the transition to a low-emission electrical system is not only a matter of energy generation, but also involves challenges in terms of network stability and operational issues. These challenges, which are typically addressed by synchronous machines in conventional thermal operation, have led to a substantial increase in systemic costs in the market. However, these costs can be mitigated by enabling energy from renewable and emission-free sources in these markets, for which more investment is required, but not in the traditional form of NCRE, but rather through the implementation of equipment. and IBR systems with network strengthening, balance management and network recovery capabilities.”

The Director of ACERA pointed out that in Chile, aspects such as zero marginal cost hours, cuts in non-conventional renewable energy and discharges represent a complex triad but also offer opportunities for the development of short-term energy storage solutions. as long lasting. In addition, he highlighted the potential for applications in transmission and distribution, such as Grid Booster.

In this context, BESS storage plays a crucial role in providing flexibility for efficient energy management, thereby contributing to solving systemic stability and sufficiency challenges. These attributes, which have traditionally been provided by thermal generation, can now be addressed more efficiently and sustainably through energy storage. He also emphasized the importance of reducing Chile's dependence on fossil fuel imports, highlighting the significant costs associated. In 2022, Chile spent $22.5 billion on fossil imports, underscoring the urgency of moving towards a more sustainable and autonomous energy system.

Regarding the Continuity Control System Services (SSCC) market, the implementation of enabling technologies such as IBR with synchronous grid forming or advanced grid forming could significantly reduce associated costs, thus allowing the broader participation of non-conventional renewable energies. in the network balancing and recovery services market.

The most important business meeting in Europe culminated with the commitment by ACERA to business partners present at this summit, such as Acciona, Grenergy, Ibereólica and Celeo Redes, to contribute to an agenda for the management of the bottlenecks that today affect companies committed to Chile's energy transition. Special emphasis was given to the purpose of collaborating in the processing of permits for the timely approval of transmission lines that the State of Chile has ordered to be carried out, in respect of the legal provisions in force for the protection of the environment.