Mainstream dominates Chile's historic renewable tender

Renewable energy firms Solarpack and Aela Energía were two of the big winners in Chile's latest regulated market power supply tender.

Solarpack, through subsidiary Amunche Solar, will build and operate the 55MW La Constitución solar PV plant to meet its supply commitment, a company statement said.

Aela, a 60:40 JV between private equity investor Actis and Ireland's Mainstream Renewable Power, will build two wind farms totaling 265MW.

Aela and Solarpack will supply Chile's power distributors with about 65% and 9% of the 1,200GWh/y awarded in the tender, respectively.

The tender, designed and administered by Chile's national energy commission CNE, was divided into three, time of day-specific blocks to accommodate the intermittent nature of solar and wind farms.

The Solarpack contracts both pertain to daylight hours from 8am-6pm.

Aela will supply energy during all three periods: 11pm-8am, 8am-6pm and 6pm-11pm.

The remainder of the daylight block was awarded to First Solar, which will meet the commitment through special purpose company SCB II.

The remainder of the nighttime contracts were awarded to wind developer Ibereólica Cabo Leones I and a consortium comprising three subsidiaries of Spain's Abengoa.

Abengoa is building the 210MW Atacama I CSP-PV hybrid project in Chile, which will be able to supply energy around the clock. However, a company spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on whether this plant will be used to meet the supply commitment.

Prices awarded in the tender averaged just under US$80/MWh, down 27% from a supply auction at the end of 2014. The latest tender also saw small renewable generators bid more competitively than venerable giants Colbún, Endesa and Aes Gener, none of whom were awarded a PPA.

In related news, First Solar finished and connected to the central SIC grid the first phase of its 141MW Luz del Norte PV project near the northern Chilean city of Copiapó. The first phase comprises about half of the total capacity of Luz del Norte, which will begin full commercial operations in 2016, a company statement said.