Six companies bid for 1,680 GWh in Chile"s short-term power supply tender

The 2025/01 Short-Term Power Supply Tender in Chile attracted interest from only six generation companies aiming to serve the electricity demand of regulated customers between 2027 and 2030.

Colbún, Guacolda, BTG Pactual, Enel Generación Chile, Evol Energy and the Spanish renewables company Grenergy filed their administrative and economic bids last Friday during the submission event organised by the National Energy Commission (CNE).

They are competing for 1,680 GWh, divided into four regional blocks (North, Central, Central-South and South) and distributed across three time periods.

"The reception of proposals in this short-term tender reflects the interest of market players in taking part in a competitive and transparent process," said Mauricio Funes, Acting Executive Secretary of the CNE, after the bid submission.

The 2025/01 tender once again showed low competition compared with previous rounds, although it followed the pattern already seen in the 2023 auction, which recorded the lowest participation since 2013 with only five bidders, despite higher expectations at the time.

This means that the current process will be the second-lowest in terms of participation over the past decade.

However, it is worth noting that this tender has several particularities compared with previous rounds and is taking place during an electoral cycle, in a context marked by increasing renewable energy curtailment, price expectations and regulatory uncertainty.

Limited competition had already been anticipated by Energía Estratégica (read here), considering that this is a short-term tender.

Industry analysts expected that PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) would not be underpinned by new renewable energy infrastructure but rather by surplus energy or uncontracted output from existing portfolios.

In other words, the natural bidders were expected to be energy traders and large utility-scale companies, used to operating medium-term contracts and managing portfolios that typically incorporate PPAs with horizons of four, six or eight years.

Who are the bidders?

Colbún is one of Chile"s most established renewable and conventional generators, with a diversified portfolio exceeding 5,000 MW across 29 power plants in Chile and Peru.

Among its recent milestones are the commissioning of the Diego de Almagro Sur solar PV plant and the start-up of Horizonte, the largest wind farm in Chile, located in Taltal (Antofagasta Region).

Guacolda Energía, meanwhile, has more than 30 years of experience in thermal power generation in Chile.

The company operates a five-unit coal-fired complex built between 1995 and 2015.

Since 2021, it has been owned by Capital Advisors, following its acquisition from AES Andes, with ownership managed through the Chilean company El Águila Energy, created by Global Infrastructure Partners.

BTG Pactual, linked to the Brazilian investment bank of the same name, appears as another international player in the tender.

Also participating is Evol Energy, the power business of Chilean fuel company Lipigas, focused on supplying free-market customers with connected capacity above 300 kW.

For its part, Enel Generación Chile returns to this type of tender after being the major winner of the 2023/01 process, when it secured 3,600 GWh/year (1,500 GWh in Block 1 and 2,100 GWh in Block 2) across all three regional systems and all time segments, at a price of USD 56.679/MWh.

At that time, Enel was the company with the highest number of projects submitted15 renewable parks totalling 2,802 MW and five gas-fired plants totalling 1,959 MW.

In total, it submitted 216 economic offers (108 in each supply block) as it competed across all segments of the tender.

The group of bidders is completed by Grenergy, a Spanish multinational founded in 2007 that develops and operates solar PV and energy storage projects.

In Chile, it is advancing the Monte Águila hybrid plant in the Biobío Region, which will combine 340 MW of solar capacity with 960 MWh of battery storage, as part of its Oasis Central platform, projected to reach 1.1 GW of solar PV and 3.8 GWh of storage.

Next steps

According to the schedule of the 2025/01 Power Supply Tender, the opening and evaluation of Envelope A (administrative and technical bids) will take place on Tuesday, 25 November.

The opening of economic bids, including the block-by-block price offers from the six bidders, will follow on Friday, 5 December.

The awarding decision is set for Thursday, 11 December, although if a second stage is required, it will occur the following day, 12 December.

The outcome will serve as a concrete indicator of market interest, providing benchmarks on projects and pricing for Chile"s short-term electricity supply.