Enel Chile S.A (Enel Chile) engages in the generation and distribution of electricity in Chile through the company’s subsidiaries and affiliates. The company operates as a subsidiary of Enel S.p.A.
As of December 31, 2024, the company had 8,869 MW of net installed capacity and approximately 2.2 million distribution customers. Of the company’s total net installed capacity, 78% corresponds to renewable energies and BESS, including 3,665 MW of hydroelectric power plants, 903 MW of wind farms, 2,05...
Enel Chile S.A (Enel Chile) engages in the generation and distribution of electricity in Chile through the company’s subsidiaries and affiliates. The company operates as a subsidiary of Enel S.p.A.
As of December 31, 2024, the company had 8,869 MW of net installed capacity and approximately 2.2 million distribution customers. Of the company’s total net installed capacity, 78% corresponds to renewable energies and BESS, including 3,665 MW of hydroelectric power plants, 903 MW of wind farms, 2,050 MW of solar plants, 83 MW of geothermal capacity, and 203 MW from BESS. All its thermoelectric net installed capacity corresponds to gas/diesel power plants (1,965 MW).
Segments
The company operates through two segments, Generation and Distribution and Network.
Generation Segment: The electricity generation segment is composed of a group of electricity companies that own electricity generating plants, whose energy is transmitted and distributed to end consumers. The generation business in Chile is conducted by the company’s subsidiaries Enel Generación Chile S.A. and Empresa Eléctrica Pehuenche S.A., and the company’s Group is engaged in the development and exploitation of non-conventional renewable energies through the company’s subsidiary Enel Green Power Chile S.A.
Distribution and Networks Segments: The electricity distribution and network segments comprises the companies Enel Distribución Chile S.A. and its subsidiary Enel Colina S.A., which operate under an energy distribution concession regime, with service obligations and regulated rates to supply the electricity through their distribution networks to regulated customers.
Electricity Generation Segment
In 2024, the company’s consolidated electricity sales were 35,974 GWh, and its electricity production was 24,639 GWh. The company’s total net installed capacity in 2024 was 8,869 MW.
The company sells electricity to regulated customers, through distribution companies, and to unregulated customers through generation companies. The sales to distribution companies to supply their regulated customers, that is, residential, commercial, or others, are classified as regulated sales and subject to government-regulated electricity tariffs. Generation companies’ sales to unregulated customers are governed by contracts at freely negotiated prices and terms. The company sells directly to large commercial and industrial customers and other generators.
The company’s thermal generation increases during relatively low rainfall periods, typically resulting in higher fuel costs.
Seasonality
The company’s generation business is affected by seasonal changes throughout the year (year ended December 2024). During average hydrological years, snowmelts typically occur during the warmer months of October through March. These snowmelts increase the level of water in its reservoirs. May through August typically have the most precipitation.
When there is more precipitation, hydroelectric generating facilities can accumulate additional water for generation. The company’s reservoirs’ increased level allows the company to generate more electricity with hydroelectric power plants during months when marginal electricity costs are lower.
In general, hydrological conditions such as droughts and insufficient rainfall adversely affect the company’s generation capacity. For example, severe prolonged drought conditions or reduced rainfall levels in Chile caused by the La Niña weather phenomenon reduce water accumulated in reservoirs, thereby curtailing the company’s hydroelectric generation capacity.
Operations
The company participates in electricity generation through its subsidiaries, EGP Chile, Enel Generación Chile, and Pehuenche. As of December 31, 2024, the company had 70 generation power plants in Chile with a total net installed capacity of 8,869 MW, representing 24% of the SEN’s installed capacity in 2024.
Enel Generación Chile owns 14 hydroelectric, six thermal, and two wind-powered power plants, with a total net installed capacity of 4,921 MW. EGP Chile owns 32 solar, nine wind-powered, two hydroelectric, and two geothermal power plants, as well as four BESS, with a total net installed capacity of 3,249 MW. Pehuenche owns three hydroelectric power plants, with a net installed capacity of 699 MW.
The company’s total hydroelectric generation (including mini hydro) accounted for 55.5% of its total generation in 2024, while the company’s thermal generation accounted for 19.9% of its total generation in 2024.
Water Resource Use Agreements
The company has three current agreements signed with the Chilean Hydraulic Works Directorate (‘DOH’ in its Spanish acronym). The agreements are related to water consumption from Maule Lagoon and Laja Lake, both located in southcentral Chile in areas where irrigation is more demanding, generally from September to April. Enel Generación Chile signed the agreements regarding the use of water from Maule Lagoon and Laja Lake on September 9, 1947, and October 24, 1958, respectively. On November 16, 2017, Enel Generación Chile signed an agreement to operate and recover water resources from Laja Lake, complementing the 1958 agreement with DOH.
In October 2020, the company’s subsidiary Pehuenche, Colbún S.A., and the Maule Lagoon Vigilance Board-First Section, signed an agreement to optimize the use of water during drought periods. The agreement expires on August 31, 2025, and may be renewed by agreement of the parties.
In September 2024, Enel Generación Chile signed an agreement with the Biobío River Basin Vigilance Board to ensure a minimum volume of water in the Ralco reservoir during the 2024/2025 irrigation season, along with making the generation of the Pangue power plant and its reservoir more flexible.
Thermal Generation
The company’s thermal electricity generation facilities use mostly LNG and, to a lesser extent, diesel. To satisfy the company’s natural gas requirements, the company signed a long-term LNG supply contract that establishes maximum quantities and prices. The company also has long-term gas transportation agreements with pipeline companies. The company’s gas-fired efficient power plants can operate using either natural gas or diesel. In particular, San Isidro and Quintero power plants operate using LNG from the Quintero LNG Terminal.
The LNG supply is based on long-term agreements with Mejillones LNG Terminal in northern Chile and Quintero LNG Terminal in central Chile for regasification services, and Shell for supply. The company’s LNG sale and purchase agreement with Shell is in force through 2030 and is indexed to the Henry Hub/Brent commodity prices. Electrogas S.A. is the company’s gas transportation provider.
During 2024, Enel Chile, through the company’s subsidiary Enel Generación Chile, used 300 million cubic meters of LNG, which represents a decrease of 41% compared to 2023, mainly due to a greater availability of natural gas from Argentina and lower thermal generation using LNG due to better hydrological conditions.
The availability of natural gas from Argentina allowed the company to have an available supply throughout 2024. In 2024, Enel Generación Chile operated utilizing various supply agreements, importing 855 million cubic meters of Argentine natural gas through central Chile, which represented 48% of its total natural gas requirements in Chile (electricity plus supply to customers) and 74% of the total natural gas for generation in central Chile.
During 2024, the company continued to actively manage the supply of LNG and natural gas in central Chile by optimizing the supply mix, allowing the company to sell LNG at the Quintero LNG Terminal, as well as executing other trading actions. Through the Mejillones LNG Terminal in northern Chile, the company supplied the Atacama and Taltal plants and industrial clients with more than 599 million cubic meters of LNG and natural gas.
Generation from NCRE Sources
The company’s Canela wind farms and Ojos de Agua mini-hydroelectric plant, and most of EGP Chile’s power plants (except the Pullinque and Pilamiquén power plants), qualify as NCRE facilities.
Electricity Sales
The company’s total generation amounted to 24,639 GWh in 2024, which represents 30.8% of the total demand.
The company’s electricity sales reached 35,974 GWh in 2024, which represented a 44.9%, market share, respectively.
Electricity Generation and Purchases
The company supplies electricity to the major regulated electricity distribution companies, large unregulated industrial firms (primarily in the mining, pulp, and steel sectors), and the pool market. Contracts usually govern commercial relationships with the company’s customers. Supply contracts with distribution companies must be auctioned and are generally standardized with an average term of ten years.
Supply contracts with unregulated customers (large industrial customers) are specific to each customer’s needs, and the conditions are agreed upon by both parties, reflecting competitive market conditions.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, the company’s principal distribution customers were (in alphabetical order): Empresa Eléctrica de Puente Alto, Enel Distribución Chile, Grupo CGE, Grupo Chilquinta, and Grupo SAESA.
The company’s generation contracts with unregulated customers are generally on a long-term basis and typically range from five to fifteen years.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, the company’s principal unregulated customers were (in alphabetical order): Anglo American Sur, BHP Billiton, Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi SCM, Minera Valle Central, and SCM Minera Lumina Copper Chile.
Electricity Distribution and Networks Segment
The company’s distribution and network operations are conducted through Enel Distribución Chile, in which the company has a 99.09% economic interest.
The company distributes electricity in a concession area of 2,105 square kilometers, under an indefinite concession granted by the Chilean government. The company distributes electricity in 33 municipalities in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. As of December 31, 2024, the company distributed electricity to more than 2.2 million residential, commercial, industrial, and other customers, who are primarily municipalities, representing 39.3%, 14.9%, 4.6%, and 41.2%, respectively, of its total electricity sales of 14,810 GWh.
For the supply to regulated distribution customers, Enel Distribución Chile’s principal suppliers during 2024 were (in alphabetical order): Colbún S.A., Enel Generación Chile, Engie Energía Chile S.A., and GM Holdings.
Generation Business Projects
Projects that Reached Commercial Operation in 2024
EGP Chile
Don Humberto Solar Project and BESS
The Don Humberto solar project is in the Santiago Metropolitan Region and has a net installed capacity of 81 MW, with BESS storage capacity of 67 MW. The land has been secured, and environmental approval has been obtained.
El Manzano Solar Project and BESS
The El Manzano solar project is located 30 km north of Santiago in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is a greenfield solar project with a net installed capacity of 99 MW that consists of 162,000 monocrystalline bifacial PV modules and a solar tracking system. The power plant also includes BESS storage capacity of 67 MW. The project site occupies 185 hectares. El Manzano connects to the El Manzano substation through a 6.3 km medium-voltage transmission line.
La Cabaña Wind Project and BESS
The La Cabaña wind project is in the Araucanía Region in southern Chile and has a net installed capacity of 106 MW and includes two BESS, with a total storage capacity of 69 MW. The project connects to the national system through the Renaico wind farm substation.
Las Salinas Solar Project (f.k.a. Sierra Gorda Solar Project)
The Las Salinas solar project is in Sierra Gorda, near Calama, in the Antofagasta Region in northern Chile. The PV solar power plant has a net installed capacity of 205 MW. The site occupies 347 hectares.
It is a greenfield project inside the existing Sierra Gorda wind farm owned by EGP Chile. The project has two principal areas for PV modules inside the wind farm and an independent space for the medium voltage/high voltage substation. It consists of 461,000 monocrystalline bifacial PV modules with a solar tracking system. The project connects to the Centinela substation located 19 km from the solar plant, in the Centinela substation owned by Red Eléctrica Chile.
PMGD Solar Project (Pataguas)
The Pataguas PMGD project is located near Melipilla in the Metropolitan Region. The plant has a net installed capacity of 10 MW and connects to the Bajo Melipilla substation.
Projects that Reached Additional Capacity in 2024
EGP Chile
PMGD Solar Projects
The seven PMGD projects are in central Chile and have a net installed capacity of 29 MW. The total approved investment is approximately US$28 million, approximately all of which had been incurred as of December 31, 2024. Construction began in 2023, and the projects were connected to the grid during 2023, adding 29 MW of net installed capacity. The company expects the projects to reach commercial operation in 2025.
Enel Generación Chile
Los Cóndores Hydroelectric Project
The Los Cóndores project is in the Maule Region, in the San Clemente area in central Chile. It consists of a 153 MW run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plant, with two Pelton vertical water turbine units that will use water from the Maule Lagoon reservoir through a pressure tunnel. The construction of the power plant and the commissioning tests of equipment were successfully completed in December 2024. The power plant connects to the SEN at the Ancoa substation (220 kV) through an 87 km transmission line.
The project was connected to the grid during the fourth quarter of 2024 and reached commercial operation during the first quarter of 2025.
Rapel Hydroelectric Repowering Project
The Rapel Hydroelectric Repowering project is being carried out within its existing 375 MW Rapel power plant in the O’Higgins Region in central Chile. Rapel is a reservoir hydroelectric power plant with five Francis vertical units that use water from the Rapel River.
The project involves replacing two turbines (Unit 3 and Unit 4) installed in 1968 with an efficiency rate of less than 85%. The turbines will have a new hydraulic design offering improved efficiency (>92%) and increase the net installed capacity by 2 MW (1 MW for each unit). The project reached additional capacity during the third quarter of 2024, and the company expects the project to be completed in 2025.
Projects under Construction in 2024
EGP Chile
PMGD Solar Projects
The company is currently building six new PMGD solar plants in central Chile, totaling 33 MW of net installed capacity.
Enel Generación Chile
Pangue Hydroelectric Repowering Project
The Pangue Hydroelectric Repowering project is being carried out within the company’s existing 466 MW power plant in the Bio-Bio Region in central Chile. Pangue is a reservoir hydroelectric power plant with two Francis vertical units that use water from the Bio-Bio reservoir.
The project involves replacing one turbine (Unit 1) with a modern design that will improve efficiency and reliability and require less maintenance. The company expects the new turbine to generate an additional 54 GWh of energy per year. The company expects work at the project site to begin during the fourth quarter of 2025 and the project to reach commercial operation in 2026.
San Isidro Power Plant Upgrade
The San Isidro power plant is a combined cycle plant in the Valparaiso Region in central Chile. The power plant has two combined-cycle units (Unit 1 and Unit 2), limited by environmental authorizations to 740 MW of net installed capacity. The project consists of upgrading the existing gas turbine to improve the efficiency of both units and recover 15 MW for each unit, within the approved environmental permit.
The project began in 2022, and Unit 2 reached additional capacity in 2023. Work on Unit 1 was postponed, and the company expects the project to reach additional capacity in 2025.
San Isidro Emissions Reduction
The San Isidro power plant is a combined cycle plant located in the Valparaíso Region, in central Chile, and recently obtained a new environmental permit that allows it to extend its operational useful life until 2040. The project at Unit 2 will allow the power plant to comply with the new emissions limits approved by the environmental permit, which also allows for eliminating the environmental limit on installed capacity. When the project is completed, the power plant will have a gross installed capacity of 780 MW.
The project consists of installing a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) DeNOx system in Unit 2, operating with a <25% ammonia solution injected into the flue gases upstream of the SCR blocks. The ammonia solution will be provided by trucks and stored in dedicated tanks inside a new building specially designed for this purpose. The project is expected to lower NOx flue gas emissions to 10 mg/Nm3 (with natural gas firing), complying with the new environmental permit. The project began in 2024, and the company expects it to be completed in 2026.
Projects under Development in 2024
The company is currently evaluating the development of the following projects, which it classifies as under development. It will decide whether to proceed with each project depending on the commercial and other opportunities foreseen in upcoming years, as well as future tender prices for supplying the energy requirements of the regulated market and negotiations with existing or new unregulated customers.
EGP Chile
BESS Retrofit
The company is developing plans to incorporate BESS storage capacity into existing renewable generation plants, including Azabache, Guanchoi, Las Salinas (f.k.a. Sierra Gorda Solar), Sol de Lila, and Valle del Sol, with an aggregate storage capacity of 457 MW. The BESS will be installed at each plant’s existing project site and connected to the grid using existing infrastructure. Environmental approvals for each BESS are in process.
The company expects the projects to reach commercial operation by the end of 2027. [1]
Cerro Los Loros Wind Project and BESS
The Cerro Los Loros wind farm is in Ovalle in the Coquimbo Region. The project has a net installed capacity of 79 MW, including BESS storage capacity of 30 MW, and consists of 11 wind turbines. The project will be built on approximately 1,900 hectares and connect to the grid through the Talinay Oriente substation (220kV). The land has been secured, and environmental approval is in process.
The company expects construction to begin during the first quarter of 2026 and the project to reach commercial operation during the end of 2027.
Ovejera Sur Wind Project
The Ovejera Sur wind project is in La Unión in the Los Ríos Region. The project has a net installed capacity of 156 MW and consists of 20 wind turbines. The project will be built on approximately 5,500 hectares and will connect to the grid through the new Pichirropulli substation (220 kV). The land has been secured, and environmental approval is in process.
The company expects construction to begin in 2025 and the project to reach commercial operation by the end of 2027.
History
The company was incorporated in 2016. The company was formerly known as Enersis Chile S.A. and changed its name to Enel Chile S.A. in October 2016.
