Thursday, August 20, 2026, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Adolfo Ibáñez University, Vitacura Campus, Room 6. Santa María 5870, Vitacura.
Room capacity: 50 people. Free admission with prior registration.

[REGISTER HERE] → https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/sqY0G6BU1R

The Chilean electrical system is incorporating a growing number of distributed energy resources: solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, and smart charging. Coordinating them as a virtual power plant allows this dispersed array to operate with the predictability of a central power plant, but requires solving three problems first: how to design the aggregation to be reliable in the face of fire, storm, or earthquake scenarios; how to operate it efficiently in real time; and what dynamic pricing schemes and regulatory adjustments make its participation in the wholesale and retail markets viable.

These are the three lines of work of the ACT250025 Ring Project. The seminar opens this discussion to the sector: two international researchers present the state of the art in energy storage integration and electricity market design, and a panel with the National Energy Commission, the SAESA Group, and 50X applies it to the Chilean case.

The event coincides with the start of the modernization roadmap process for the distribution segment of the Ministry of Energy, which addresses net billing, energy storage, and user participation in system operation.

Program

8:30 Welcome Coffee
9:00 Opening Remarks, Claudio Seebach, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences, UAI
9:05 Ramteen Sioshansi, Carnegie Mellon University: “Integrating Energy Storage into Electricity Markets: What We Know, Bad Policy Decisions, and Common Misconceptions”
9:35 Andrew Philpott, University of Auckland: “Optimal Dispatch and Pricing for Battery Energy Storage Systems”
10:05 Progress Report on the VPP Ring Project, Daniel Olivares, Project Director
10:30 Coffee Break
10:45 Panel Discussion with the National Energy Commission, the SAESA Group, and 50X, moderated by Javiera Barrera
11:30 Closing Remarks

International presentations are in English, with simultaneous interpretation and receivers in the room.

Speakers

  • Ramteen Sioshansi directs the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center and is a professor of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. It investigates the integration of energy storage, renewable energy, and electromobility, and the market design that makes it possible.
  • Andrew Philpott directs the Electric Power Optimization Centre at the University of Auckland. He works on stochastic optimization applied to the operation and design of electricity markets under uncertainty.
  • Daniel Olivares Quero, a professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences at UAI, is the Director of the ACT250025 Ring Project.
  • Javiera Barrera, also a professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences at UAI, is the Principal Investigator of the project and will moderate the panel.

About the project

The ACT250025 Ring Project, “Decision Support Tools for Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Chile,” develops decision support tools for the design, operation, and regulation of virtual power plants in the Chilean electricity system. It is being implemented by CENTRA, the UAI Center for Energy Transition, with funding from ANID through the 2025 Regular Technology Rings Competition. It is directed by Daniel Olivares Quero, with Tito Homem-de-Mello as Alternate Director, and its strategic partners are the National Electric Coordinator, the SAESA Group, and the National Energy Commission.

Inquiries: centra@uai.cl

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=a3WTFOOefkuF-6Gn7OXBZThfbtoUNptDv6C8Bc4Ceo1UQzcwNUZPTEVUVktTMENVVDdIQTQ4QVA3Vi4u&route=shorturl