Transmission Expansion 2023: Final Technical Report of the CNE considers 48 works for an estimated total of US$441 million

PRESS RELEASE from CNE
May 14, 2024

(Machine translation of original release, issued in Spanish)

Through Exempt Resolution No. 239, the National Energy Commission (CNE) released the Final Technical Report (ITF) of the Transmission Expansion Plan corresponding to the year 2023, which contains a total of 48 works, the which totals an investment of US$441 million.

In the case of the national transmission system, the ITP presents a total of 13 expansion works, the investment of which amounts to a total of approximately US$105 million, of which 11 are expansions of existing facilities, for an amount of around US$69 million, and 2 correspond to new works, for a total of approximately US$36 million.

Regarding the zonal transmission systems, a total of 35 expansion works are presented, the investment of which amounts to a total of approximately US$336 million, of which 22 are expansions of existing facilities, for an amount of approximately US$86 million, and 13 correspond to new works, for a total of approximately US$250 million.

According to ITF projections, it is estimated that construction will begin in the first half of 2026.

After the publication of this Final Technical Report, which considered the observations of the electrical companies and the National Electrical Coordinator, the companies and interested parties may present their eventual discrepancies before the Panel of Experts.

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Marco Mancilla, Executive Secretary of the CNE, highlighted the content of the report, because expansions and new works are confirmed to strengthen transmission in the central and southern zone of the National Electric System, “with the objective of increasing security levels and operational efficiency between Arica and Chiloé, in addition to providing greater flexibility in the facilities.”

“This is how, at the level of the national transmission system, relevant expansions are considered in the northern part of the country, providing sufficiency to the supply in the long term and helping to avoid the interruption of the electricity supply to end customers,” he stated.

In new works, Mancilla highlighted the new Flow Control System to reinforce the 220 kV transmission corridor in the southern zone of the electrical system, specifically in the Ciruelos–Nueva Pichirropulli corridor, to “make better use of existing facilities through the use of systems that allow dynamic control of transfers in parallel circuits. This allows restrictions to be reduced and enables the development of new renewable generation parks to improve the operational efficiency of the system.”

In the northern zone, the authority highlighted the works to reinforce the transmission system of Iquique and Antofagasta, where 13 initiatives were included in the present Expansion Plan, such as the expansion of existing substations, the construction of new substations and transmission lines to provide solutions to supply, security and system reliability problems.