POWER September 2012 - 70

POWER IN CHILE
Interview with Sergio del Campo, Chile's Subsecretary for Energy
Global Business Reports (GBR) spoke with Sergio del Campo (SDC)
in June 2012.
GBR: Big projects are increasingly delayed by bureaucratic and legal
troubles. What is the government doing to smooth things over?
SDC: The government supports all those projects that comply with
Chile's environmental regulations. What Chile needs is an internal
electricity price that depends less on the global economy. At the
moment, the country is importing 75% of the fossil fuels it needs
to generate electricity. For this reason, the government endorses
those big hydroelectric projects that have the potential to decrease
Chile's dependency on imported fuels and also reduce CO2
emissions.
On the other hand, as thermoelectric generation does not depend
on climate conditions, it balances out low hydroelectric generation
in dry years in the [Sistema Interconectado Central]. It provides the
country with a safe and controlled power supply. Emission rules in
Chile are as severe as those in the European Union.
GBR: The government has announced an " electric highway " to
speed up construction of new power lines. Can you give us some
more details?
SDC: One of the most critical issues that Chile faces concerns
the upgrade of its transmission grid. Heavy delays affect the delivering
of new transmission lines. Projects that should last 150
working days are taking between 600 and 700 working days. This
is why the government has already sent to Congress a bill that
aims to lessen the red tape on concessions and servitude rights.
On another note, we want investors to move forward their investment
timeline. In order to do that, we are drawing up a bill that modifies
the way investments in power lines are rewarded. Congress should
be receiving it in September. At the same time, the industry authority
CDEC-SIC is putting out to tender $900 million worth of power line
projects in 2012. That represents a steep increase from recent years,
when tenders would not go beyond $150 million. We can say that the
sum of all these measures shape the concept of an electric highway.
GBR: What is the government doing to speed up the incorporation
of renewable energy into Chile's energy matrix?
SDC: At the moment, renewable sources generate no more than
3.5% of Chile's electricity. Following the introduction of the law
20257 during the former legislature, power generators are obliged
to introduce into the system increasing amounts of green energy.
Its ultimate target is to reach 10% of electricity from renewable
sources by 2024. The system is bearing some first fruits. On top
of that, the government has given out around 80 concessions for
geothermal exploration to high-profile geothermal companies. A
reform of the geothermal law is also under way so that investors
can enjoy a better legislative framework. With regard to solar
energy, a public tender for a 50-MW solar pilot plant is due for
September. On a broader level, we are thinking of tendering small
amounts of renewable energy every year.
no doubt that this is going to determine a
better equilibrium between generation and
demand. Electricity generated in the north
could be sent south and vice versa. This
is definitely the way to move forward to
serve the growing demand rising from the
mining industry. "
This will pose technical challenges.
" SIC-SING interconnection would ensure
a cleaner energy market overall, allowing
mines in the north to buy hydro energy
from the SIC, although this would come at
the cost of a less clean energy matrix for
the SIC, " said Eric Ahumada, Transelec's
vice president of business development.
" In order to achieve interconnection, however,
technology needs to be taken into account.
The SING uses thermal energy and
the SIC uses hydro, and the rules for their
operation are different. The interconnection
will need to be very strong to allow
the transmission of power without oscillation
in case of contingencies. If we opt for
synchronous connection, it will have to be
very strong. Otherwise, an asynchronous
interconnection using HVDC technology
can facilitate energy exchange, allowing
the systems to remain separated and respond
to their local dynamics. " ■
-Written by Jacopo Dettoni, Yana
Stankova, and Amelia Salutz of Global
Business Reports (gbreports.com).
70
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POWER September 2012

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