At a time when Chile leads renewable power generation in South America, the lack of a modern regulatory framework for electricity grids could become the main bottleneck for the country"s energy transition.
This was the central message from Gianluca Palumbo, CEO of Enel Chile, during his participation at Future Energy Summit Chile 2025.
Palumbo warned that grid infrastructure has failed to keep pace with the energy transition, both in terms of planning and digitalization.
"If we are not able to regulate grids better, we won"t get anywhere," he said, making it clear that the bottleneck is no longer power generation itself, but the absence of clear rules to deploy modern, resilient and digital grid infrastructure.
Chile"s power system is currently facing a structural imbalance: renewable energy supply is growing faster than demand can absorb it.
This has resulted in chronic oversupply and widespread curtailment, leaving a significant share of investments in new solar PV and wind power plants underutilized.
"We have a lot of renewable energy, but not enough demand," Palumbo explained, emphasizing that the core issue lies in the grid rather than in generation capacity.
From his perspective, transmission and distribution networks must become the backbone of the modern energy system.
Instead of acting as passive infrastructure, grids should operate as digital, flexible and resilient platforms, capable of adapting to rising electrification, changing consumption patterns and extreme weather events.
This transformation requires the deployment of smart meters, node automation, real-time monitoring and advanced grid management systems to support grid integration of renewables and distributed generation.
One of Palumbo"s strongest criticisms was directed at the regulatory vacuum preventing the development of modern grids.
Without a clear, predictable and long-term regulatory framework, investment decisions in transmission and distribution infrastructure remain on hold.
"When there are no clear signals, it becomes very difficult to make investment decisions that take years to develop," he said.
The challenge is compounded by the fact that the energy transition is not only about renewable generation, but also about a deep transformation of electricity consumption.
Electrifying the economy from transport and households to industry is essential to rebalance the system.
Palumbo called for faster demand growth driven by electric mobility, heat pumps for heating and cooling, the expansion of data centers, and the digitalization of industrial processes.
"The way to create electricity demand is by electrifying the economy," he said, noting that this approach is already being implemented in countries such as Italy and Colombia.
In Chile"s case, he added, the main barrier is not technology but regulation.
The tools already exist and the resources are in place, but institutional alignment is still missing.
Beyond digitalization, Palumbo argued that the future power system will be hybrid and multi-source, with solar and wind plants integrated with energy storage, batteries, green hydrogen and other grid services.
"The power plant of the future is a hybrid plant, capable of delivering not only energy, but also system flexibility," he said, highlighting the growing role of battery energy storage systems (BESS) and other flexibility solutions.
This vision also requires a new relationship between regulators, utilities and consumers, with rules adapted to a more dynamic and decentralized energy ecosystem.
Palumbo referred to international experiences where regulatory modernization has enabled the deployment of grid infrastructure with a system-wide approach.
SThe grid cannot be a bottleneck.
It has to become the platform that enables the energy system of the future," he said after his presentation.
According to Palumbo, Chile has the potential to lead South America"s electrification process but only if it urgently redefines the rules of the game.