Chile watch: El Niño, grid metrics, future of hydropower, reservoir levels
Meteorologists predict a 50% probability of the El Niño weather event developing in Chile during the second half of 2017.
If El Niño does appear, the key question is whether it will come soon enough to impact rainfall and snowmelt for the 2017-18 hydrological year, according to a Banchile Inversiones research note.
Such a scenario would be incrementally positive for power generators Enel Generación Chile and Colbún, Banchile said, each of which have high exposure to hydroelectricity.
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Power generation on Chile's central SIC power grid totaled 4,781GWh in March, up 0.7% year-on-year.
Output on the northern SING grid, which mainly serves mining companies and other industrial clients, fell by 19.3% to 1,350GWh, according to Chile's national electric system coordinator.
Wind and solar combined to supply 9% of generation on the SIC and 11% on the SING.
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Chile's so-called sustainable hydroelectricity working group presented a series of recommendations to energy minister Andrés Rebolledo on how to promote further development of the technology.
The group, which included experts from the public and private sectors, academics and NGOs, concluded that hydroelectricity will play a vital role in Chile's power sector for years to come, especially as a way to stabilize the grid amid growing output from intermittent wind and solar parks.
The group found that there must be better coordination among different stakeholders in order to sustainably add hydroelectric capacity in the country, the energy ministry said in a statement.
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Water levels at Chilean reservoirs were down 9% year-on-year at the end of March, and 45% versus the historical average.
Mixed-purpose reservoirs used for power generation and irrigation showed year-on-year and historical deficits of 38.5% and 69.5%, respectively, according to national water authority DGA.
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