September 25th, 2024

 

This segment is becoming more important for the country’s energy matrix every year, as it is approaching 3.3 GW of installed power generation, which corresponds to 10% of the SEN’s capacity, according to the latest figures from the Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels (SEC).

When we talk about distributed generation, we must differentiate between the netbilling type, with installations of up to 300 kW and oriented towards self-consumption, and PMGD type projects (Small Distributed Generation), which can reach up to 9 MW of installed capacity, according to the director of the Energy Transition Center (Centra) of the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences of the Adolfo Ibáñez University, Daniel Olivares, who highlights that in the case of the second segment, it is equivalent to about 8% of the total generation capacity in the National Electric System (SEN), with annual growth rates of over 18% in recent years.

The SEC Superintendent, Marta Cabeza Vargas, highlights the growing relevance of PMGD, as they have already exceeded 3 GW of installed power thanks to the 694 plants that are in operation, where the solar source predominates (74%), followed by hydraulic (12%) and diesel (11%). In the case of Distributed Generation for self-consumption or Netbilling (GDA), the 265 MW capacity was exceeded, corresponding to 24,898 generation equipment, where 99% of the installations are of the photovoltaic type. “Currently, GD is reaching 3.3 GW of installed power, which corresponds to 10% of the SEN’s generation capacity. Likewise, this segment is important, since it improves the resilience of the electrical system as a whole, promoting the use of local renewable energies and generating savings in energy costs for citizens,” adds the authority on the important role of these technologies in the System.

METROPOLITAN LEADS

Regarding the regions of the country that lead this technology and its capacity, Superintendent Cabeza specifies that in GDA the largest number of installations and power are concentrated in the Metropolitan Region, “which has 7,680 units, equivalent to 73.5 MW. This is followed by the Valparaíso and Maule regions with 2,950 and 2,520 installations respectively, equivalent to 44 MW and 32 MW in each region, where practically all the installations are photovoltaic.” While in the case of PMGD, the largest number of plants are also concentrated in the RM, “with 141 PMGD equivalent to 655 MW of installed power. Then there are the O’Higgins and Maule regions, with 97 and 93 PMGD respectively, corresponding to 470 MW and 422 MW. In this case, more than 85% of the projects in these regions are photovoltaic and the rest is broken down into hydroelectric, biogas, diesel and wind power plants.”

UPDATE OF REGULATIONS

The numbers are encouraging, in the opinion of Daniel Olivares, however, “if we compare these figures with the nearly 12,000 MW of residential distributed generation in California (United States), and the more than 22,500 MW in Australia, which are regions with high potential for solar generation, as is the case of Chile, there is a huge gap in the development of this type of projects, even if the figures are normalized by population, GDP, electricity consumption, or other.” Likewise, Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, argues that an update of the GD regulations is necessary, due to “the problem of congestion caused by distributed generation upstream, in zonal transmission, and to review the operating and monitoring conditions of the PMGD in view of the volume and relevance they have reached for the operation of SEN. Adjustments are also expected for the installation and management of distributed storage, provision of services to the network by distributed generation facilities, and a new review of the stabilized price regime that has been under the magnifying glass of the sector in the last year due to its impact on systemic costs.”

UNTAPPED POTENTIAL

Asked about whether there is a lack of public efforts to promote these forms of generation, the director of Centra said that “it is evident that residential distributed generation has not received the same attention in Chile as in other countries as a means to achieve the objectives of the energy transition and sustainable development.” In this regard, he added that recent studies on the role that DG could play in the energy transition in Chile suggest that the efficient potential of this type of generation would be over 6,000 MW of installed capacity.

“In view of the international experience and the available analyses, it seems an inexcusable omission at this point for our country not to have a specific agenda of legal, regulatory and normative changes aimed at significantly growing the generation segment as part of the national energy policy,” Olivares analyzed.

PUBLIC EFFORTS

With regard to the government efforts that are being made to promote distributed generation, the SEC superintendent assures that “from the public world, various initiatives have been implemented to promote it, mainly under the GDA scheme. This is how incentives and subsidies have been offered for the installation of equipment, “such as the Public Solar Roof Program of the Ministry of Energy, the Solar House Program developed by the Energy Sustainability Agency and the subsidies for this type of installations in homes carried out by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.”

From the SEC, meanwhile, Cabeza specifies that “training and technical support programs for electrical installers are constantly being developed, as well as installation design instructions and technological platforms that facilitate the initiation of the connection process with the distribution company and the delivery of information to verify the technical feasibility of a project in a specific location.” In parallel, he added that they have developed an intensive program of inspection of these types of facilities “in order to verify that they do not represent a danger to people and their property. These inspections are carried out both in documentary form and in on-site inspections, where our officials carefully review the projects to verify that they comply with what is indicated in the current regulations.”

 

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