The Chilean National Energy Commission (CNE) says it has received offers from 29 domestic and international power generation companies in response to its 2.31 TWh renewable energy auction, and the lowest bid has gone down as low as $0.01332 per kWh.
Bids for hourly blocks were capped at:
Most of the offers ranged between $0.021 and $0.028 per kWh. Once the winners are announced, the projects will be expected to be grid connected and start supplying clean energy for a period of 15 years, starting from 2026 under long-term contracts.
The tender process was oversubscribed with offered bids adding up to 8.5 times the amount offered.
While CNE did not reveal the names of bid offering entities, local newspaper La Tercera reported the lowest bid having been offered by Canadian Solar Libertador Solar Holding SpA for blocks 1-A, 1-B and 1-C.
"We believe that, due to the observed prices, this will be a remarkable process, which will allow average award prices well below the previous tender of 2017," said CNE's Executive Secretary José Venegas.
In the November 2017 auction, Chile contracted 2.2 TWh renewable energy capacity with an average price of $0.0325 per kWh with Enel Generacion Chile submitting the lowest winning bid of $0.0218 per kWh (see Average Price Of $32.5/MWh At Chile Auction).
Back in July 2020, Solarcentury (now part of Statkraft) won the lion's share of over 2.6 GW renewables capacity the Chilean Ministry of National Assets awarded under an auction round (see Chile Awards Over 2.6 GW In Renewables Auction).